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Posting Up - Scoreboard - Top 25 - Features - Notables - Team of the Week - Live Audio |
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A look at the upcoming season 2001-02 season |
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Simpson All-American forward Michelle Stover should lead the Storm this season. Stover was selected as one of the 10 finalists for the Josten's Trophy, emblematic of the Division III Women's Basketball Player of the Year. She moved to seventh on the Simpson career scoring chart with nine points against Loras Feb. 20 and enters her senior season 68 points away from overtaking Anita Lampe (1991-95) for sixth place on the career scoring chart. "Michelle has proven to be one of the top players in the Iowa Conference," said Simpson head coach Brian Niemuth. "We look for her to become a complete player who uses her leadership skills to accomplish even more than she already has." Senior forward Casey Spree, junior center Katie Egli, and junior guard Tiffany Whitsell return to the Simpson starting lineup. Spree was selected first team All-Conference in both basketball and volleyball for Simpson last season. She set a school record for highest free throw percentage in a game (13-13, 100%) against Buena Vista Feb. 2 and tied the school record for most steals in a game with eight against Wartburg Feb. 16. She grabbed the second most rebounds in a game by a Simpson player when she charted 14 rebounds against Cornell Jan. 23. Egli started all 27 varsity games and averaged 5.7 points and 3.6 rebounds. She led the team in blocks with 31. At 6-1, she tied her career high with 13 points against Upper Iowa Nov. 28 and charted first career double-double (12 points) against Buena Vista Feb. 2. Whitsell set school records for most made three point field goals (7) and three-point field goals attempts (11) on the way to a career high 29 points against Buena Vista Feb. 2, 2001. She led the team in made three point field goals (53) and attempts (130) and was second on the team in scoring (12.4 ppg). "We are looking to expand Casey's role, now that I have a better feel for what kind of athlete she really is," Niemuth said. "Katie has the ability to step up and become more of a force this year, and we are looking for her to do that. We have to find a way to have Tiffany to score and add her ballhandling and leadership on the floor." The biggest question mark for the Storm is who will replace Lisa Cowling at point guard. Cowling graduated last Spring as the Simpson career leader in assists and steals. One option has Whitsell moving to point guard and Christy Pierick or Sara Sonderman sliding into the two-guard slot. Pierick was third on the team in three point shooting (38.9%) and was fifth on the team in scoring with a 7.0 ppg average. Sonderman appeared in 20 varsity games, making 14 starts. Sonderman averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. The other option is to find a point guard among one of five players and leave Whitsell at the two guard spot. Junior Amy Van Pelt would have the inside track as she is a veteran of the Simpson system. Van Pelt played in 20 varsity games, averaging 2.5 points and 1.5 assists per game last season. She dished out a career high seven assists and had a career high four steals against William Penn Feb. 6. The other players in this group would be four newcomers; sophomore Laura Nedved, and freshmen Karen Rowles, and Jessica Schultz Nedved concentrated
on golf for Simpson last season. She impressed the coaching staff with
her ability to adapt to the Simpson system after a year away from basketball.
Simpson will enjoy excellent depth on the front line. Returning letterwinners Sandy Beattie and Annika Gustafson along with sophomore Jessica Capper should see time at both forward and center. Beattie played in only 19 varsity games last season, but was sixth on the team in scoring with a 5.1 ppg average. Like Spree, Gustafson plays volleyball for the Storm. She was second on the team in blocks with 30 as a sophomore. Capper played in all 14 Simpson JV games as a rookie and averaged 9.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Sophomores Meghan Kelso, and Gina Lorensen will vie for playing time at one of the wing positions. Kelso, a softball letterwinner for the Storm, averaged 8.8 points and had 31 assists for the Simpson JV last season. Lorensen averaged 8.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for the Simpson JV. Waldorf College transfer Krista Van Hauen is arguably the top incoming recruit. A first team All-American for Waldorf last season, she led the Warriors to a third place finish at the NJCAA Tournament in 2001. The coaching staff expects her shooting skills and her slashing ability to open up the inside for the inside players. Freshman Ashley Boggards should also contend for varsity playing time. Boggards was named second team IBCA All-State and third team Des Moines Register All-State as a senior for Pella High School last season. "Krista brings a lot of intangibles to our team besides her scoring ability," Niemuth said. "She refuses to lose, that attitude should make us a stronger team. Ashley can play three different positions. She is somebody we expect to play for the varsity and push for significant playing time." How quickly Simpson can overcome the loss of Cowling at the point should determine how far the Storm can go in the Iowa Conference race. "The key for us is to get comfortable with our point guard position," Niemuth commented. "Once that happens, with the experience we have coming back, I think we can be a strong contender." Carleton "It's a different challenge in that we haven't been a target, which we kind of are this year," head coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen said. Metcalf-Filzen, in he fourth year at Carleton, led the Knights to a 22-5 mark, 18-3 in the MIAC. She was named MIAC Coach of the Year and the WBCA's District Coach of the Year for her efforts. Those accomplishments are but a distant memory for Metcalf-Filzen, as the task of repeating or surpassing last season's success will drive the Knights in 2001-02. "It's not different in the sense that we can't get better," she said. "There's not a sense that we've arrived, it's we want to get back there. For so long it's been getting to this level, and now we really want to maintain and increase on that, not just feel like we've arrived because we've had one good season." Leading this charge is senior co-captain Renée Willette. The forward, described by Metcalf-Filzen as the most complete player in the MIAC, enters the season ninth on the all-time scoring list with 928 points. She averaged 12.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game last season, earning All-MIAC first team honors. Metcalf-Filzen said that Willette has filled the leadership void left by Lisa Cawley and Bridget Seegers. "She can play in the post, she can play on the perimeter, she can hit the shot from the outside, she can back-cut you," Metcalf-Filzen said. "She brings so much to the table." Carleton's other returning All-MIAC first teamer is point guard Angie Grabowski, who will miss the first eight games while she's on a study abroad program. She averaged 9.8 points per game and tallied 2.7 assists per contest, doubling her output in both categories from her first year. "She has the potential to be a scorer, and she's shown that," Metcalf-Filzen said. "I'm looking forward to when she gets back, but I also know it will take her some time and we're not going to rush her back." Junior Cara Jones will start until Grabowski can work herself back into the line-up, a fact that Metcalf-Filzen sees as a non-issue. Carleton's strength last year was in the front-court; the starters plus top two reserves shot 51.5% from the field and averaged 48 points per game. Joining Willette up front in the starting lineup will be fellow co-captain Karissa Kramer. Last season averaged 10.0 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds. She set a new school record, shooting 67.1% from the floor. A trio of players — Bethany Koehler, Karen Fricke and Linnea Engel — give the Knights myriad options both offensively and defensively. Koehler has been determined in practice so far, Metcalf-Filzen said. Fricke was one of the top reserves in the MIAC, and should challenge for a starting role after averaging eight points and nearly four rebounds a game last year. Engel, meanwhile, earned All-MIAC First Year and All-MIAC Defensive Team honors, and is one of the most versatile players in the conference. The Knights can also call on a talented group of first-year players, although they're in the enviable position of not having to rely on them for production. "As a whole, they're very athletic when you look at the speed and the strength and quickness and all those different pieces," Metcalf-Filzen. "They're coming in with a vision of being patient with themselves and being patient with the system." The MIAC, traditionally one of the top conferences in the nation, may be the toughest has ever been, according to Metcalf-Filzen. "I know some people will be quick to pick different folks," she said. "St. Benedict has the big kids, which they've lacked, and St. Thomas has the history, we're still kind of the new kids on the block, but you have teams like St. Mary's, St. Olaf and Gustavus — all those guys are better. We all say every year that any team can beat any other team, but I would be very surprised if anyone gets through this thing without a couple of losses." It will still be a battle for the Knights to repeat their magical run of last season, Metcalf-Filzen feels it's a real possibility. "I think the number one thing is putting the team first. If we can do that across the board, that will be huge for us," she said. "Second is to play our game. It comes back to our own accountability. If we stay on the same page, we can have a really good year. |
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