Leslie Howard

Colorado School of Mines

Oct 29 (Wed)

7:00 PM

Position:
Guard
Height:
5-10
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Salem, Mo.
High School:
Salem

Barry on Howard: “She played well in late January and February last year. By far she is our best outside shooter. She was one of our most committed players in the off season and I think she is in much better shape this year.”

This Season: A pure shooter, Howard is a front-runner for the starting shooting guard position and could even move over to the small forward. She has great shooting range and will be able to keep defenses honest so they can’t double team Colorado’s inside players.

2003-04 (Freshman): Howard appeared in 20 of CU’s 30 games as a freshman, averaging 2.4 points per game. Howard scored her first bucket for CU against Idaho State, a three pointer. She was the fourth newcomer to score for Colorado on the season, and also the fourth in a row to score her first collegiate points on a three pointer, joining Whitney Law, and classmates Emily Waner and Anna Nedovic. She would hit 13 three’s on the year, nailing 48 percent from behind the arc. Howard scored her career-high 11 points against Buffalo on Jan. 3, hitting three three-pointers and also dishing out three assists. She had one of her more important contributions 10 days later at Kansas, when she came off the bench for a then career-high 18 minutes. She hit two timely three pointers to help lead Colorado to the victory over the Jayhawks. She saw her career high for the season in minutes at Oklahoma scoring six points in 25 minutes of play vs. the Sooners.

High School: Howard had an outstanding senior year, leading her team to a 21-6 record averaging 21.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg and 4.0 apg on the season. She wrapped up her career as Salem’s all time leading scorer with 2,152 points and the school scoring average leader at 21.4 ppg. She was named First Team All-South Central Association (SCA) Conference, SCA Conference Co-Player of the Year, First Team All-Southeast Missouri, First Team All-Southwest Missouri, Second Team All-Ozark, Missouri Sportswriters 4A First Team All-State, MBCA 4A First Team All-State and a Finalist for Miss Show Me Basketball. She participated in the Geralz Pitz All-Star game in July 2003, as well as the Missouri Sportswriters Hall of Fame All-Star Game. As a junior, Howard was the South Central Association (SCA) Conference Co-Player of the Year, averaging 21.3 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game as her Salem team went 16-10 under coach Phillip Karr. She also earned First Team All-Conference, First Team All-Southeast Missouri, First Team All-Southwest Missouri and Second Team All-State honors as a junior. Her 21.3 ppg average is a Salem High School record. As a sophomore, Howard was First Team All-SCA and First Team All-Southeast Missouri, averaging 21.0 ppg and grabbing 7.0 boards per game. Howard’s team won the SCA Conference Title her freshman year, when she averaged 19.7 ppg and 8.0 boards per game, en route to First Team All-SCA and All-Southeast Missouri honors. She also lists the biggest moment of her high school career coming that season, as she hit the game winning three-pointer to win the SCA Conference Title.

Off The Court: Leslie Jean Howard was born February 11, 1985 in Rolla, Mo., and is the daughter of Gary and Barb Howard. She has one younger sister, Natalie, who is 13 years old. Howard is a multi-talented athlete, as she earned three letters in softball, where she hit .474 and was a two-time All-Region selection, and she also earned four letters in track, where she specialized in the 400 meters. She was Vice President of the Salem National Honor Society as a senior, and was a member of the Spanish Club, Mu Alpha Theta (Math Club) and was the Junior Class Vice President. She worked with Special Olympics as a junior and had “the time of my life” and performed in a drama club production of A Christmas Carol as well. She is majoring in psychology at Colorado, but is also interested in mass communication.