Mackenzie Chatfield’s first season at WKU didn’t go how she planned.

The Auckland, New Zealand native saw limited action and had limited success in her freshman season at WKU, but Chatfield didn’t let that discourage her.

Determined to make changes, Chatfield returned to her roots – going back to New Zealand this summer and finding her confidence again. The sophomore point guard made an immediate impact in the season opener and has continued to be a key contributor in WKU’s 9-2 start.

“She worked diligently in the offseason,” WKU coach Greg Collins said. “From the spring to the summer back in New Zealand and since she’s been here (this fall), she has been in the gym relentlessly. She’s kind of settled into playing to her strengths. That’s all we ask her to do – to be the best Kenzie.”

Chatfield’s journey to Bowling Green began during COVID, when WKU assistant coach Temeka Johnson saw her film and reached out to her.

“From the first day I knew I wanted to get coached by her,” Chatfield said. “I started learning about WKU and something just felt right.”

Chatfield talked it over with her family, got about a five page Google Doc from her father about everything to do in the area and set out to arrive early – enrolling at WKU in January 2023.

“I think there are a lot of pros and cons to coming early,” Chatfield said. “I got to meet people. I got to learn the system. I got to understand how coach Collins coached and get acclimated to this country. The food is different. The style of play is different. I’m 18 and I just moved away from home, so that is different. I think having that six months and not being able to play that helped me get used to everything, but on the other side I was so used to playing basketball my entire life. Not playing a game for six months, that has its negatives.

“You come six months early and you don’t play. I kind of saw myself a little bit as a scout player. I got to see how the team operated, but sometimes I just didn’t really feel like I was in that group.”

She only went home for three weeks in the summer, staying behind to do workouts and watch film with Johnson. Chatfield was ready to make an immediate impact as a freshman in the fall of 2023, but the year didn’t go as planned.

Chatfield appeared in 21 games, playing 121 minutes total. She scored 19 points for the season, 10 in a win against West Virginia State.

“I’m 18 and naive,” Chatfield said. “I just want to go back. It’s my freshman year. The season is going to be so good and it wasn’t, unfortunately. I had some roadblocks and I had some teammates that were more experienced than me. Everything was clicking for them and it just wasn’t clicking for me. The game was quick. I was behind and I don’t think I had gotten used to the system or the environment.

“It didn’t go how I wanted, but at the end of the year meeting with coach Collins the thing I was most proud of was that I didn’t give up.”

Chatfield said she lost her confidence last season and kind of lost herself in the process. While it was rough at the time in retrospect, she thinks she was ultimately able to turn it into a positive.

“When I look back at it, it was really hard, but I don’t think I would be the person I am today if I didn’t go through that,” Chatfield said.

Chatfield decided to return to her basketball roots, returning to New Zealand for two months. She played pick-up games and hung around with former teammates, people she had played against before, and in the process Chatfield found her confidence.

“It’s hard moving countries,” Chatfield said. “Sometimes you feel like you have two identities – the people that have known you your whole life and the people you have to meet and have to learn. I think going home and being around the people that know you and believe in you like nothing else, that makes a crazy difference.

“I realized my goals. I realized what I wanted and I realized I didn’t want to have a repeat of last year.”

While in New Zealand, Chatfield said the game slowed down. She began to read things and learned how to watch film properly. By the time she got back to Bowling Green, Chatfield said she could tell she was in a better place.

Her newfound confidence was tested in the season opener against Indiana State. Senior point guard Alexis Mead got busted open after a head-on collision with an opposing player, thrusting Chatfield into action while they worked to close up the wound. She responded with a then-career high 19 points, playing 31 minutes.

Chatfield said that performance really helped her get over the confidence barrier that hindered her during her freshman season.

“That game (Mead) was down and I just couldn’t think,” Chatfield said. “You just have to play. You can’t think too much about it. You can’t think what’s going to happen because you don’t know.”

The Indiana State performance has been a springboard to a solid start for Chatfield in her sophomore season. She is averaging eight points through the first 11 games. She set a career high in points for the second time this season, scoring 20 points while adding a career-high eight assists in a win over Tennessee State.

Chatfield is second on the team in assists (30) and made 3-pointers (16).

There have been some off nights as well, but Chatfield has kept it all in perspective – noting that the team’s success has made it easier to not dwell on the lows.

“It’s basketball,” Chatfield said. “Every day is not going to be great. Yeah, there have been some games where I haven’t performed well and that’s disappointing … but I think also I have learned this year that you can’t dwell on that too much. We have so many games, (such) short turnaround time and I know that they need me each game now. I don’t have time to be dwelling on that bad game or that game where I didn’t produce.”

As the season continues with Conference USA play about to begin, Chatfield said she is looking forward to helping WKU build off its strong start. She said her biggest goal for the remainder of the season is to be consistent.

“If that is in scoring, consistently putting up numbers, or that is in facilitating,” Chatfield said. “For me, Kenzie’s good game is how many assists did I have. Kenzie’s good game is how many players did I put in a good position. How well did I do on defense? That is a good game for Kenzie. I think consistency is my biggest goal. I want to consistently impact this group and help us win because I think we are very capable of it.”

There is one other goal.

“Kenzie just wants to be happy,” Chatfield said. “Kenzie is playing because she loves basketball. That was my goal when I came back here, to love basketball again and I have. I love it. It’s my passion.”