Meet the player with one arm who made college women's basketball history

Baileigh Sinaman-Daniel was born without a right arm. Her right hand snuggles to her shoulder.

This past season, she made history as the first one-armed female basketball player to score in college division play.

Growing up in Virginia, Sinaman-Daniel watched LeBron James and fell in love with basketball. Her friends encouraged her to join them on their high school team.

“I never really looked at trying out because I never saw anybody that looked like me,” Sinaman-Daniel said. “But my friends convinced me to come and try out because they were trying out too.”

She made it, but was later cut. The rejection hurt, but it fueled her desire to play in college.

“After I got cut, I was obviously upset, but my sadness turned into a lot of anger and then the anger slowly turned into revenge,” Sinaman-Daniel. “And then I looked up how many collegiate women’s basketball teams there are in the country. I went down a list and emailed as many as I could.”

Sinaman-Daniel is now a player at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was recruited by Lesley coach Martin Rather, 27, and decided to attend the school after making sure Rather wouldn’t feel bad for her.

“He’s extremely understanding of people’s situation,” said Sinaman-Daniel. “My biggest fear was kind of addressed with him when I first came here for my visit because he asked me, ‘What’s the one thing you would or would not want for me to do?’ And one of the things I told him was, ‘I don’t want you to pity me. I do not want pity. I do not want you to bring me on a team because you feel bad for me.’ Because it’s one thing to be recognized as a one-armed basketball player, but then it’s another thing just to be recognized as a basketball player.”

Mariana Richwine, Sinaman-Daniel’s friend and fellow guard, says that Sinaman-Daniel has a unique, defensive style of play.

“ I see that like fire in you,” Richwine said. “You can see in your body language and your energy and the way you carry yourself, and that's how you play.”

As she advances in her season, Sinaman-Daniel looks up to another basketball legend: Hansel Emmanuel, a player with one arm. She says she’s happy to be a figure others can look up to.

“ I'm very happy to be a light because I once did not have a light, so I had to find it for myself,” she said. “So if I'm able to help people find it and make it easier, then by all means, I will happily do so.”

Robin Young produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Young also adapted it for the web.