Prior to Owens: At Struthers, Mathews was the second-leading scorer (boys and girls) in school history and the all-time assists leader. She lists her greatest personal sports thrill as scoring 38 points for the Wildcats in a victory over Salem in the district championship. A four-year letter winner, she earned All-American Conference First Team honors all four years while leading the Wildcats to league championships as a junior and senior. She earned All-Ohio honors twice and averaged 17 points and shot 42 percent from 3-point range her senior season. Mathews was also a four-year letter winner and team captain in softball, where she received AAC honors 3 years in a row.