Valles isn't lacking confidence and that's a good thing

A great point guard needs a certain set of attributes.

Athleticism, ball-handling skills, calm under pressure, scoring ability, court vision and, most of all, confidence.

Northwest Nazarene senior Marina Valles checks off all of those boxes, especially the confidence one.

So, when Valles pulled up for a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the NCAA Division II National Tournament quarterfinal against Alaska Anchorage last season, it didn’t surprise her coaches or her teammates.

“Many people are too nervous to take the last shot,” NNU senior Avery Albrecht said. “Her being her confident self, though, she had no problem taking it. I think we would all agree that we wanted her to be the one taking it.”

Valles is not known as a big 3-point shooting threat, but in her mind if she didn’t take the shot it would be worse. She was open, her teammates were covered and there was less than 2 seconds on the clock.

“I think it would have been way worse if I didn’t try it,” she said. “I looked at the clock and if I don’t shoot it, it will go with me forever. So, hopefully it goes in and if not, at least I shot it.”

The shot just rimmed off.

“I think her greatest quality on the court is her competitiveness and her willingness to do whatever it takes to win and that shot was an example of that,” said Ellie Logan, an assistant coach and star of last year’s team. “It’s one that we definitely as a team wanted her to take. She took it confidently and it was an inch from going in.”

That Valles has confidence isn’t a surprise. It is almost a necessity, considering she came to Idaho as an 18-year-old who spoke very little English to play for a coach who didn’t recruit her.

Plenty of student-athletes would’ve handled that situation poorly, but Valles has thrived with the Nighthawks.

The rest of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference is finally starting to take notice of her ability. She was named to the preseason all-conference team after being second-team all-GNAC last season.

“I don’t think she’s underrated because she is one of the people I think of when I think of NNU women’s basketball,” Logan said. “As far as the conference, I think she is underrated because she kind of hides in the stats sometimes, but makes everyone around her so much better.

“She could go out and score a lot of points, but that is not the game she wants to play. She tries to make everybody else better.”

Valles averaged 9.9 points per game and 3.9 assists last season. She has steadily increased her scoring potential throughout her career and is a player who can consistently get to the basket against nearly any defender. She has worked hard in the offseason to improve her outside shot, which would make her a true dual threat player.

“Part of the reason Marina is underrated is because for so many years, we have had so many different options for scoring and she is the one setting them up for shots,” Albrecht said. “Her assists are always super high and that will be the same this year, but her points are going to go way up. And like the Anchorage shot, we want her shooting that shot at the end of every shot clock more than anyone else because she is so talented.”