Paulina Hersler goes up for a shot in the victory over the Hawks.
Hersler, Gators Found Each Other Just in Time
Thursday, December 21, 2017 | Women's Basketball, Chris Harry
Grad transfer forward Paulina Hersler, by way of UCLA, has made a major impact on both ends of the floor for Coach Cam Newbauer.
Both her basketball careers, actually (more on that later).
Hersler came up with a steal against Hawks backup guard Avery Marz, shoveled an outlet ahead to teammate Elif Portakal and took off up the floor. Hersler, being the seasoned (make that worldly, with more on that later, also) and fifth-year senior she is, trailed the play and ended in one of her shooting sweet spots. Portakal hit Hersler as she hit the top of key and walked into a rhythm, transition 3-pointer that swished through the net.
Fourteen seconds later, Hersler was subbed out of the game, having tallied a career-best 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting overall and 3-for-5 from the arc, to go with eight rebounds, two blocks, plus an assist and steal in leading the Gators to a 71-55 victory.
"She had a huge opportunity to come here," Florida senior guard Dyandria Anderson said. "Now she's making a huge impact."
The here-and-there numbers are so warped they don't even need crunching. Hersler, the 6-foot-3 forward from Malmo, Sweden, came to UF from UCLA this summer, via the graduate-transfer rule. In three seasons competing for the Bruins, Hersler scored 240 points and grabbed 163 rebounds points in 96 games, with two starts. That's 2.5 points and 1.7 boards per game.
As a Gator, Hersler has started all 12 games this season and after beasting on St. Joe's is now averaging 12 points and 5.8 rebounds, shooting 47.3 percent from the floor and 39.5 percent from the 3-point line in nearly 30 minutes per game. At her current pace, Hersler would eclipse her her three-year UCLA totals before the calendar flips to February.
It's as if she's two different players.
(If the Bruins saw her now, they might think she is)
"A lot of the reasons come down to opportunity, which builds into confidence. When you play more, you become more confident, and along the way you use more of your tools," said Hersler, who graduated from UCLA last June with a degree in communication and is working toward a masters at UF in business management. "I've always been a good shooter, but I'm also trying not to rely on it too much and expand my tool box. Our offense here is built on moving the ball a lot and that opens opportunities for shooters. I like that. But I'm also trying to expand what I do to help the team."
For a women's program in utter rebuild mode under first-year UF coach Cameron Newbauer, Hersler's addition not only constituted "help" for the team. She might have rescued the Gators on some fronts. What other newcomer Newbauer and his staff may have found would have this kind of sudden impact?
Now, Newbauer is realistic. He knows some rough lessons likely await when Southeastern Conference play tips off after the Christmas break, but Hersler's versatility inside and outside can only help. Her post presence and ability to stretch the floor as a 3-point shooting big is something Florida would not have otherwise had.
"To her credit. she's worked more and more to be a presence posting up and she's getting tougher and more physical and trying to do more things," Newbauer said. "She's grown her game. That's why she came here, and now she's done the work to help expand her role. As a shooter, she demands defensive coverage."
Hersler got here in the summer, but didn't stay long. She joined the Swedish national team in Taiwan for the World University Games, where she started and was the second-leading scorer for her squad. Throw in the fact Hersler is an "old" 23, mature beyond her years. As a teen, she moved form home to a different part of the country to play with new club team and made the adjustment. When it was time to play college basketball, she not only came across the Atlantic Ocean, but went another 3,000 miles to Los Angeles and was there four years, living life on the left coast, but also playing seeing very good competition in the Pac-12 Conference.
When it was time to mesh with her new teammates, it was just another transition for her, which also made things a lot easier on the Gators.
"She's just very chill and easy-going. From Sweden to California to here, that's just Pau," senior forward Haley Lorenzen said. "She clicked with everybody."
Hersler was, understandably, a tad tentative at the beginning when it came to asserting herself within the team. Lorenzen told her new front court mate to get out of that mode.
"She was like, 'Well, I just got here.' And I was like, 'No, you're a senior and you've earned this by playing at multiple high levels,' " Lorenzen recalled.. "She just had a lot of knowledge and I thought had to share it."
Early in the season, Hersler was named a captain and, in turn, found something of an authoritative voice that everyone in the locker room has come to respect.
As for the basketball?
"She's been a major factor for us," junior point guard and scoring leader Funda Nakkasoglu said.
And the Gators have been the same for her.
"I had four great years at UCLA, but I wanted something different on the court, in terms of basketball. I wanted to get more out of myself as a player," Hersler said. "I felt this was the place to do that, and Coach Cam has been great helping and putting me in position to succeed. I like what he's building here and how he's building it. I admire him for that and I'm glad to part of the foundation of it."
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