Feature Friday: Sania Wells primed for big senior year

That relationship paid immediate dividends for Wells, who saw a dramatic improvement from her sophomore to her junior season as a guard for the Tigers.

Averaging 3.3 points in a little over 14 minutes a game in 2020-21, she moved into the starting point guard role as a junior and nearly tripled her scoring output to 9.1 points a game. She also added 2.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists while playing 28-plus minutes per night.

“I can definitely say my confidence has gone way up,” Wells said. “Coach J really instilled in my to believe in myself. She showed that she believed in me, and that really helped my growth and my confidence.”

One of the keys to her massive scoring increase was a focus on an often overlooked fundamental of the game – free throws.

“Free throws, those were never like, ‘Sania, those are your go-to points,” she said. “But starting last year, Coach J and the staff started making us shoot 50 free throws before and after practice. I think that really helped me.”

She went from a marginal free-throw shooter her first two seasons to one of the nation’s best, hitting 90.5 percent of her attempts (76-of-84) for the year, making her first 15 of the season and 25 of her first 26. Her percentage at the line led the SEC, ranked seventh in the nation and set the Auburn single-season record.

“Once I figured out, ‘Hey, free throws are your thing,’ that really boosted me to get to the free throw line more,” Wells said.

This season, she will likely move from the point guard to the shooting guard position, which could increase her scoring opportunities both from the field and at the charity stripe.

“We’ve got Syd (Shaw) at the one, so I’m going to be at the two,” she said. “When the coaches got here, they actually wanted me to work on my 3-point range and become a better shooter, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do. Last year I was improving my 3-pointers, but over the summer, (graduate assistant) DQ (Gordon) really helped me to get my shot better and my range better.”

Now a senior and the only four-year Auburn player on the team, she’s been called upon to be a leader in the locker room. But Wells says she’s up for the challenge.

“It’s a weird feeling,” she said. “I’m so used to not being the oldest one. And it’s a lot of responsibility. We have so many freshmen; it’s a young team. And me, being one of the oldest out here, one of the most experienced in this league, I think it puts some pressure on me to make sure that I can shape the freshmen and the newcomers into what Coach J wants, since I’ve already had that experience with her.”