UMD Bulldog Feature Series begins with contributor Pete LaFleur.  The Bulldogs will be debuting feature pieces on its programs throughout the upcoming athletic season.

Virtually every team's season ends in a loss. It's unavoidable, the nature of the game.
 
For the 2019-20 Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team, that season came to a screeching halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA tournament was canceled before even one game had been played. The Bulldogs had steamrolled through the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (20-2) en route to a 26-6 final record. Suddenly, it all was over.
 
Six of the top-seven scorers returned from 2019-20, all but Katie Stark, who recently rejoined the program as an assistant coach. The veteran Bulldogs played a trimmed-back schedule in 2020-21 (actually all in '21), winning the NSIC Tournament to secure the program's third straight trip to the NCAAs. UMD rose as high as 6th in the 2020-21 national rankings and tasted victory in the NCAAs for the first time since 2005. They lost the next day … leading to disappointment, but also strong motivation as the 2021-22 season approaches.
 
~ Fantastic Five
 
In the wake of the pandemic, the NCAA granted an extra year of player eligibility. Ultimately, all three members of UMD's 2020 senior class – off-guard Ann Simonet (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), wing Payton Kahl (Stoughton, Wis.) and post player Sarah Grow (Circle Pines, Minn.) – opted for one more season in maroon and gold.
 
With rising seniors Brooke Olson (Rice Lake, Wis.) and Maesyn Thiesen (Sauk Centre, Minn.) also returning, the Bulldogs are set to run it back with the same lineup, plus all nine reserves from a year ago.

CLICK HERE for thumbnail "scouting reports" on the starting five, in the words of Simonet and Olson.

The returning starters have combined for 460 career games played, 323 starting assignments and nearly 12,000 minutes of game time. A year ago, they started all 16 games and accounted for nearly 75% of the minutes, each averaging between 27-32 per game.
 
Simonet alone has logged more than 3,000 minutes, appearing in all 105 games with 104 starts. Grow has three years of starting experience, while the others are two-year starters. Kahl was the first who formally committed to the fifth-year option, followed by Simonet and finally Grow. "To be honest, we all kind of knew we ultimately would be coming back," says Simonet. "We have something special here, with amazing teammates. Playing as a team is our biggest strength. Other teams may yell at each other and that just creates a downhill effect."

St. Cloud State is the only other NSIC women's basketball team that is returning its entire roster.
 
"This will be a special experience, and not a common one," adds Simonet, a second team all-conference performer. "You see our chemistry building each year. We know we're part of a great team culture. We're grateful for that every day."
 
Simonet (accounting) and Kahl (marketing) were able to enroll in a hybrid MBA program ("4+1"), starting in the fall of 2020. They're on pace to receive their MBA degrees in May 2022. Grow upgraded her psychology minor into a major, so she will be adding that to her primary major, public health, while also logging internship hours in 2021-22. Olson, a top recruit who received Division I offers, is cautiously optimistic: "We have big goals and it's gonna take all of us diving in to figure out individual goals that help the team achieve at a high level."
 
"We don't care who gets big stats. We care about: 'Did we win? Do we love each other in the process? Do we trust each other?' It's a cool dynamic and every team in our league sees that. Opposing players remark about how obvious it is that we love each other and that there's no drama."
 
Seventh-year head coach Mandy Pearson has a couple ideas for possible tweaks prior to next season. With such a veteran team, it's great to have options. Yet, as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke …
 
"Sometimes you realize: if this works, why would we change it?" Pearson says. "Yet we want to keep things fresh, and we certainly have the type of players who can adapt and take things to another level."
 
UMD's lofty goals will be tested next season in one particular non-conference game: versus Drury University (Springfield, Mo.), the 2021 NCAA runner-up. The Bulldogs and Panthers have played a couple times in recent seasons, providing UMD with some valuable, elite-level competition.
 
~ Fair, Not Equal
 
Pearson's academic background includes a psychology degree (minor in sociology) from Concordia-Moorhead and a masters in human development from Saint Mary's. Her final thesis focused on leadership.
 
Those studies have dovetailed into her primary approach as a coach: "Players come from many backgrounds. They were raised differently and had different styles of coaches. They also are wired differently, because of the biological part of it," explains Pearson, verging into a nature-vs.-nurture comparison. Pearson's players – and any serious observer of her program – readily cite a central factor behind her coaching style. But in her own words: "Some say they coach everybody the same. I coach everybody differently. I focus on what is best for that player. What kind of coaching does she need to excel?"
 
"I'm trying to get individuals to get along, while becoming the best they can. I feel like a complete failure if players don't get better."
 
Simonet admires how Pearson senses when she can't yell at certain players, "instead pulling them aside to discuss what's wrong." The veteran guard readily admits that, in her case, she's always looking at her coach for body-language clues.
 
"If coach has a scowl, I'm in panic mode and realize I need to step it up. She knows I'm watching her," says Simonet.
 
On the flip side, Pearson knows she can be more vocal with a player such as Kahl, who will "take yelling and react in an effective way," adds Simonet.
 
"Even when you go talk to coach in her office, some like to go for walks if that feels comfortable. For others, it's more formal meetings. She finds ways to get the best out of us in every situation."
 
Olson has similar observations, in regard to fellow post player Grow: "Coach knows, when she's giving Sarah criticism, to also include positive feedback, so she's not overthinking the negative."
 
An uber-competitive player, Olson often can go too fast, even out of control. That's when Pearson will playfully joke with her star player. "Coach may start laughing and say 'you just need to slow down.' A little joke like that can get me on track, it's all I need," explains the two-time All-American. Former UMD women's basketball coach/current sport administrator Karen Stromme – a veteran of nearly four decades in collegiate athletics – values Pearson's simple, genuine approach.
 
"You don't treat people equally. You treat people fairly," explains the UMD senior associate athletics director, a current member of the NCAA II Women's Basketball Committee. "Mandy doesn't try to mold players into what she wants. She tries to make each the best version of themselves and explains how to get there. She listens, and they feel heard . She's not their buddy. She's just their coach, but she knows there's more to that than x's and o's. She can pivot with her leadership styles, and that's not being wishy washy; instead, it shows highly acute emotional intelligence. She can read others, has empathy, and knows herself. She 'checks a lot of boxes' in terms of being a great coach."
 
One other box checked: roster building/vision.
 
"In recruiting, Mandy thinks years ahead, but she's also in the moment and knows how to put a roster together," adds Stromme, a Duluth native. "That process is intentional and not only based on skill, but who they are as people, how they fit in, how they play. She surrounds players with the type of teammates they need."
 
~ De-fense! De-fense! De-fense!
 
The start of each season is the only time Pearson talks about the program's top goal: a national championship. "From then on, I talk about the process needed to get there," she says. "We focus on process goals. You want to be a better shooter? What specifically are you going to do to make that happen?"
 
"We always discuss 'controlling the controllables.' We want to be the best defensive team in the league. Play harder than the other team. Box out on every possession. Get back on transition. Don't give up easy baskets."
 
It may be obvious, but Pearson has gained a reputation for building strong defensive teams that also take care of the ball on offense.
 
"I learned early on how impactful defense is to team success," says Pearson. "You can't always control certain things on offense, but if you always defend, you're giving yourself a chance. You can't control player speed and quickness, but you can teach technique on how to close out, contain and have a high hand. The biggest thing is defensive rotation, and it takes a long time to teach."
 
Stromme – who similarly coached with a defense-first mentality – notes that Pearson keeps thing simple, calmly preparing her team's man-to-man defense "to a level that not many teams can't match."
 
"Mandy's approach makes players eager to learn, and defensive preparation keeps them in every game. Opponents know they're facing a fundamentally strong defensive team. They wear other teams down."
 
In the season prior to Pearson's arrival, ball control was an issue. UMD ranked only 108th in all of Division II (295 teams) when it came to fewest turnovers per game. That ranking improved to 65th in Pearson's first season. In each of the past five seasons, the Bulldogs have ranked no lower than 6th in the nation for fewest turnovers per game, led by a nation's-best 11.0 turnover average in 2018-19. That season, UMD also ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense (55.0 opponent points per game).

"We're blessed to have players who simply try to make the right play to help the team succeed," says Pearson, a self-described "turnover machine" in her own playing days. They make great decisions and don't try to do too much. I don't believe in punishing them or pulling them if they turn the ball over. I don't want them to play being afraid of making mistakes."

~ Positive Social Media
Pearson's Twitter account (@MandyPerson_) has become a viral sensation with followers of her team. It rarely includes news releases, game recaps, etc. That's why the @UMDWomensBBall feed exists.
 
"I want to show people our personality and how fun the players are," says Pearson. "When it comes time for it, yes, we are serious and work hard. But I laugh at the players all the time and try to record the funny stuff. It's hilarious and lighthearted. We have some really goofy, fun and interesting people in our program."
 
Simonet often bumps into random people back home in Brooklyn Park who are up to speed on all of her team's hijinks. And when recruits come on their official visits, those players and their parents reveal themselves as followers of the coach Pearson's Tweets.
 
"Whenever these encounters happen, it's obvious that people already know about our team culture, because of the social media," says Simonet. "They remark about how the team looks so fun and that we get along great. I think it also makes recruits feel less stressed on their visits."
 
~ Bridging Generations
 
Stromme's 21-year UMD Hall of Fame coaching career (all winning seasons) included seven trips to the NAIA tournament and eight in Division II. Former UMD standout player Sue Fiero (now Sue Newton) was promoted from assistant to head coach in 2005. But, after one season, she ended up getting married and moving to the Twin Cities. The program then had a new head coach in 2006 … and again in '07. Simple math: four different head coaches in four years. An ensuing uneven seven seasons (2008-15) left the program far from its winning roots. "We were not trending in the direction we wanted to be," concedes Stromme.
 
"Mandy had to rebuild and she's good at it. It was all about doing things the right way and creating a culture. She has innate skills, ones you can't teach. We quickly learned she had those special intangibles as a coach."
 
Pearson's arrival rebuilt a bridge to the program's past. A disconnect with the alumni base suddenly transformed, into a rebirth of linked generations. The scars of 4-coaches-in-4-years became a faded memory.
 
As Newton notes: "Anytime there's a leadership change in any organization, the new leader says 'here's what I'm going to do and here's what we're going to stop doing.' New leaders look to the future and put their stamp on it. Like any excellent leader, Mandy took a step back to see what had worked in the program's past. She immediately brought Karen in and wanted to know what she had done in those glory years. Then Mandy added her own touches."
 
Now, six years into Pearson's tenure, the alumni are a central, vibrant part of the program. Their involvement and connection to coach has helped the Bulldogs fundraise for a new locker room and other program enhancements.
 
"From the minute Mandy arrived, one of her priorities was to get the team reconnected with alums – the heartbeat and pulse behind the program's history. She leaned into the program's history and sought alum's input," adds Newton. "The alumni felt that genuine reconnection instantly. That makes us want to rally around Mandy and everything she's doing. We want to be part of something that was such a big part of our own young lives."
 
Former UMD player Laura Sylvester – now athletic director at nearby Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College, where she also serves as volleyball head coach and women's basketball assistant – finished her career playing alongside teammates who later endured all the coaching turnover. She offers a reminder that even those players have a stake in the program's history.
 
"The players who went through the coaching changes, they still built lifelong friendships," observes Sylvester. "They see Mandy creating something we all need to be a part of. It's something that can connect us."
 
Not surprisingly, video correspondence and social media have played a role in the alumni outreach. Pearson regularly keeps alums in the loop and even sends them training videos not shared with the general public.
 
"Mandy communicates with the alumni all year long, even through the training and recruiting stages," says Newton, who still resides in the Twin Cities area and regularly participates in the UMD alumni "old lady game."
 
During the pandemic, Pearson even set aside time for virtual zoom calls with members of the alumni base.
 
"One-hundred percent, all of this is Mandy. She created the opportunity for alumni to have a sneak peek into their preseason workouts down by the lake, special stuff like that," adds Newton. "It's all about camaraderie and everyone remembers special moments with teammates. It's awesome to see how much the current players truly adore each other."
 
Stromme – also UMD's sports administrator for volleyball, men's basketball and co-administrator with football along with UMD Athletic Director Josh Berlo – had not been the women's basketball administrator prior to Pearson's arrival. It actually was Pearson's suggestion that prompted that new oversight. And, notes Stromme, athletic director Josh Berlo saw it as a no-brainer because "I had the expertise and understood the language." Since Berlo's arrival, the Bulldogs have hired six head coaches covering 11 of the 16 varsity programs at UMD, including the hiring of coach Pearson (with two head coaching hires achieving conference (Pearson) or national coach of the year).
 
The pairing has been a successful one, largely because Stromme has been an invaluable resource without hovering or micro-managing.
 
"Karen is a classic energy giver and treats everyone like they're gold," observes Pearson. "She simply lets me be me so I can utilize my coaching style. And I'm so indebted to her as a resource, particularly when it came to bridging a relationship with the alumni. They are an amazing group of women who want to be role models for our players."
 
Newton sums it up best: "Karen welcomed Mandy, and vice-versa. It's a two-way street, with a high level of mutual respect."
 
~ Falling Into Coaching
 
Pearson – an only child who grew up watching her parents Dean and Jeanne play a variety of sports – has traversed an interesting coaching path. Late in her All-American senior season at Concordia-Moorhead (2004-05), Pearson made the claim "that I would never coach … I don't know why I said that, but I had no clue what I wanted to do for a career." As fate would have it, a former AAU coach offered Pearson an assistant coaching position at Division III Hamline University in Saint Paul. Two years later, at the urging of various coaches at Hamline, she threw her hat into the ring for the head coaching position at Saint Mary's in Winona.
 
Just as UMD would do eight years later, Saint Mary's saw something special in Pearson. She repaid that trust by leading the Cardinals to new heights, including the two winningest seasons in program history and unprecedented national rankings. Of course, it didn't happen instantly.
 
"We didn't win very many games my first year at Saint Mary's," recalls Pearson. "I learned a lot by losing. That was probably the best thing that could've happened."
 
Her first season at UMD was eerily familiar. Not much depth, and few wins (7-19).
 
"I realized 'ok, this is the process.' My mind could relax and it was easier to communicate to the players about that process, telling them to hang in there even though it's frustrating and hard."
 
Pearson experienced a key transformation during that 2015-16 season: "I did not get as angry, like earlier in my career. I thought that was how to motivate people. But it was more about teaching and developing. I completely adapted and changed my way of coaching."
 
"I don't yell much anymore, which is way more enjoyable."
 
Pearson's essence as a genuine, caring coach provides the "main reason why recruits are drawn to her," notes Stromme, who laughingly acknowledges that she even has been the target of some playful, clever pranks from the personable coach.
 
~ A Humble Star
       
While this feature is focused on the team, there is value in taking a quick snapshot look at Olson's story. Brooke's parents Forrest and Darla (Innes) were collegiate players and coaches. Darla is a Michigan Tech Hall of Famer, as a former player and coach for the Huskies. Before Brooke had even celebrated her fourth birthday, her father was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died four years later. Darla raised Brooke and younger sister Brynn as a single mom for seven years, before remarrying.
 
The sisters had to grow up quickly. They watched their dad undergo chemotherapy and spend the final year of his life in a power chair. They then were raised by a mother who put her own needs aside. You often hear stories of kids lives going sideways after enduring such family heartbreak and challenges. For Brooke, it was an opposite trajectory.
 
"My dad had great influence on my mentality of the game. His legacy inspired me and what he taught me guided me going forward," says the UMD rising senior.
 
"Both of our parents taught us to not take trivial things so seriously. Basketball's a game to love and have fun playing. They taught us to not feel deprived or cheated; to toughen up and face life. We were very grateful and blessed for the time we had with my dad."
 
Throughout Brook's formative years, Darla has served as her training coach, and even her head coach at Rice Lake High School for a couple seasons.
 
"My mom gave me guidelines for becoming a leader and all-around player. She has expectations but never puts limitations on me," says the grateful daughter.
 
"Her experience and detail-oriented training helped me navigate through my development. She never allows me to get a big head and brings me back to reality. My mom has taught me to find good things in mistakes and failures."
 
The proud mother has guided Brooke's steady development: post-up moves; midrange runners; stretching out to 3-point range … "adding dimensions to my game so you're harder to guard, even impossible to guard. Each year we've added something and enhanced everything on that list." Over the years, Brooke and Darla also have spent countless hours pouring over game film: "Mom's a mediator for me when we watch film; it enhances my basketball IQ." We've all known (and likely been?) one of those angst-ridden teens, fed up with parents and eager for freedom. Again, Brooke Olson breaks that mold.
 
"A lot of people, when they go to college, and even in high school, they build this wall between their parents and themselves, because they're trying to find independence," says Olson. "I already had built my independence and still had a great relationship with my mom."
 
"I never went through that phase of wanting to be separated from my parents, and I've never talked bad about them. It's just a different mentality. I don't know what I would do without my mom being a central part of my life."
 
Brooke brags about her mom being the favorite coach in the high school, "because she pushes you to find the best version of yourself, your capacity as a player." 
 
Sound familiar?
 
Without using the actual words "surrogate mother," Olson conveys the sentiment.
 
"It's kind of scary: my mom and coach Pearson have very similar philosophies in basketball and very similar personalities in how they vocalize things. I also benefit so much from watching game film with both of them," concludes UMD's most-decorated player.
 
"It was tough not being able to go home during COVID. Coach realized that and regularly checked in on me, about life, not just basketball. I need deep relationships and love the people in my core group. Coach has adapted to that and realizes that factor about me. She just shows you that she cares."

This piece is contributed by Pete LaFleur.  About LaFleur.
Pete LaFleur – as his family will tell you – has been making sports lists, studying the history of sports and, most importantly, writing about sports since childhood. His life entered a new realm when he realized people actually would pay him to do these wonderful tasks, initially as a student assistant in the Notre Dame Sports Information (SID) Office, a profession now more commonly known as college athletics media relations. He went on to spend nearly two decades working in media relations for three Division I athletic departments, including a dozen years at his alma mater, and earlier at the University of Virginia and University of San Francisco, where he received a masters in sports administration. Since gaining his "freedom" from the SID lifestyle, Pete has returned to his home state of Colorado, where he has remained active in college athletics through various "side gigs" – ranging from writing and photography to website creation and popular social media platforms (his assorted "360" brand offerings feature more than 30,000 combined Twitter followers, most notably at @CB360updates, a.k.a. CollegeBaseball360). Pete's true passion for sports writing revolves around creating priceless memories for the subjects of his stories, while hopefully informing and often inspiring readers. And, yes, he loves learning about new sports, much like his namesake Peter LaFleur (no relation) from the highly-acclaimed sports documentary "Dodgeball."