THE OPENING TIP
The No. 15 UMD women's basketball team (13-2 overall, 10-0 NSIC) enjoy their first full home stand of 2023 this weekend as a pair of new conference foes travel to Duluth. The Bulldogs first square off against Upper Iowa on Friday, Jan. 13 at 5:30 p.m. on Pack the Gym Night. UMD then takes on Winona State on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 3:30 p.m. for 80s/Blackout Night.
LAST TIME OUT
What. A. weekend.
It all started in St. Paul. The Bulldogs didn't just beat Concordia on the Golden Bears' home court- they put on nothing short of a defensive clinic. You'd think UMD was traveling the state to give lessons to an eager audience.
Through 20 minutes of play, Concordia had scored 16 points. The Golden Bears tallied just five in the second quarter. By the end of the game, they had 34. That's the fewest amount of points this nationally touted UMD D has allowed all year. Along the way, Concordia shot just 13-56 from the field, a 23.2% mark. The Golden Bears made exactly one three the entire game on 11 tries, a 9.1% rating.
Meanwhile, UMD was able to pair stifling defense with a steady offensive effort. Two Bulldogs in particular had big shooting nights. Olson had a team-high 18 points on 7-13 (53.8%) shooting from the field. Not points-related, but don't forget her nine rebounds, either. Then there was Gilbertson, who tallied 14 points of her own while going 5-8 from the court.
Next came Saturday's contest- and it was a big one.
UMD continued its road trip with a journey out to Mankato to meet up with Minnesota State, at the time the No. 5 team in the entire country. It probably didn't take long for the Bulldogs to instill confidence in their faithful fans watching from home- UMD immediately looked like it belonged. And though the Bulldogs entered the second quarter down 21-18, the lead felt far from insurmountable.
Always trust your feelings.
When halftime rolled around, UMD was suddenly up 45-37. The Bulldogs had outscored Minnesota State 27-16 in the second frame while holding the Mavericks to just 7-19 (36.84%) shooting from the field. Meanwhile, UMD had gone an efficient 10-17 (58.62%). If you had any doubts before, you shouldn't have had any going into the break.
Then the Bulldogs came out and just about did it all over again in the third. Here, the scoring margin was +6 for UMD at 23-17. The Bulldogs again shot above 50% (51.14%, 8-14) while holding Minnesota State below 40% (6-16, 37.5%). In a top-five road environment, UMD was up 68-54 with just 10 minutes left to play.
But the Bulldogs would quickly find that you play the full 40 for a reason. UMD had to survive a fourth quarter that saw its shooting cool down while the Mavericks seemed as if they couldn't miss. As it turns out, you build big leads for a reason, too. Still, it was Minnesota State that suddenly found itself up 73-70 in the dying moments of the contest. At just the right time, UMD started to rediscover itself. The Bulldogs would control the final two minutes in Mankato, outscoring the Mavericks 8-2. No last second, half-court theatrics to be found on Saturday- instead, UMD closed the evening with a well-earned 78-75 victory.
At the top of the scoring charts once again? Olson. She didn't just dance with the idea of a double-double in this one- the forward tallied 22 points (on 9-16 shooting) to go with 10 boards. It was her third double-double on the season. But 22 is pretty far from 78. Three other Bulldogs contributed their fair share with two-digit scoring nights. Rhoades and Gilbertson each had 14 while Kaylee Nelson, who'd scored a massive four points for UMD down the stretch, closed with 10.
RANKINGS ROUNDUP
Ever seen one of those talent shows on tv where peoples' dogs are jumping six feet in the air to clear hurdles? That's the kind of leap the Bulldogs made in the standings this week.
In each of the sport's two major top 25 charts, UMD bumped up eight spots. The Bulldogs moved from No. 23 to No. 15 in the WBCA Coaches Poll and No. 22 to No. 14 in the D2SIDA Media Poll. It doesn't stop there- UMD also saw a pretty significant rise in the D2SIDA's Central Region Rankings. The Bulldogs went from No. 4 to No. 2 on that front- the only team ahead of them now is a 13-0 Central Missouri squad that's No. 2 in the entire country in the D2SIDA's top 25.
STATS STATUS REPORT
Maybe not that much of a surprise after her performance this past weekend, but it's still Olson that sits atop the average scoring list for UMD on the season. The graduate forward's working at a clip of 18.5 points a game now, the best rate in the NSIC and the 30th best in the entire country. And she's doing it at an efficiency mark of 48.3%, too. Olson also leads the team in average rebounding with 7.1 a night.
Ella Gilbertson continues to be a standout offensive force for the Bulldogs, as well. She's UMD's other double-digit scorer, potting 10.9 points a night. Not only is the junior guard shooting 47.7% from the field, but she's an impressive 42.9% from three-point land, to boot.
Maesyn Thiesen continues to be the main distributor through all of this offensive action with 3.6 assists a game. Meanwhile, Taya Hakamaki continues to be the defensive menace often responsible for setting the offense into action- she leads the team with 2.2 steals a game.
And rest assured that UMD's team defense is just as stout as ever heading into a new weekend. The Bulldogs are holding opponents to an average mark of just 55.7 points right now, the 17th best defensive effort in the country.
2K'S NOT FAR AWAY
Something else that shouldn't be much of a shock- Olson has scored a lot in her career. A lot, a lot. In fact, she's done it about as much as any UMD Bulldog has in the program's history.
Do you know how rare it is that a player scores 2,000 points throughout their entire career? For some perspective, if you factor in every player that's ever played for both UMD's women's and men's teams, only three have ever done it. Decades upon decades have Bulldogs have come and gone, won accolades upon accolades, NSIC Titles upon NSIC Titles, and still not cemented their names in the 2k club.
This weekend, Olson has a chance to become entrant number four.
The graduate forward currently sits at 1975 career points, 25 away from history. Multiply that team-leading 18.5 points average by two, and… you get the idea. Suffice it to say, you'll want to be in Romano. You might just witness something special.
THAT'S A LOT OF DIMES
When it comes to upcoming accolades, the fun doesn't stop at Olson.
Thiesen's been a go-to distributor for UMD not just this season but for much of her career. She's got the numbers to prove it. The graduate guard has 416 assists to her name right now. Just 14 more, and she'd pass Sammy Kozlowski for fifth in UMD history. An-all time scorer meets an all-time passer- no wonder this UMD team is so hard to play against.
ALL RHOADES LEAD TO 500
And the party still hasn't stopped- let's talk about Taytum Rhoades.
Rhoades does a bit of just about everything for UMD. One of the things on that list? Scoring points.
As it turns out, the senior guard's done a pretty good amount of this throughout her tenure at UMD, actually. With 441 points already scored, Rhoades is just 59 shy of crossing the half-century mark.
SCOUTING REPORT ON UPPER IOWA (6-9 OVERALL, 2-8 NSIC)
2021-22 IN A NUTSHELL
Last season saw signs of improvement with this Peacocks club. Upper Iowa closed the year with a 7-20 record. It was the first time the team had hit the seven-win mark since 2014-15.
COACHING CONVO
But after last year's campaign, then-head coach Matt Oakland stepped down as the bench boss for the Peacocks. Upper Iowa's coaching search landed them in Morehead (yes, with one o- it's the one in Kentucky). There, they found Justin Maass.
Maass had spent the last four seasons as part of D1 program Morehead State University, working his way up to the role of assistant coach. Now, he's the 15th coach in the history of Upper Iowa women's basketball.
ON THE UP-AND-UP
So far, Maass sure isn't taking the opportunity for granted.
Upper Iowa's 6-9 record could use a bit more context. We've already explored some of it- remember that the Peacocks had seven wins through a complete 26-game schedule last year. There's more to it than that, though. Upper Iowa hasn't won at least eight games since a 2006-07 season that saw it finish 9-19. If Maass can keep the Peacocks at their current pace, there's reason to believe the team can enter that territory this year.
But why stop there?
It's been more than two decades since an unforgettable year in Fayette, a 2001-02 season that saw Upper Iowa close the year with a program-best 19-7 record. That's the last time the Peacocks have hit double-digit wins in a season. Maybe Maass won't be able to make history in his first year at the helm… but pushing his team back into double-figures in the win column would be quite the place to start.
HAACK ATTACK
Upper Iowa didn't totally escape roster turnover over the summer- it's nearly impossible to. Included in the exodus was Jessica Musgraves, a major part of the offense last year with her 12.3 points and team-leading 7.7 rebounds a game.
Know what makes that sting a little less? Lydia Haack is back- and the Peacocks' leading scorer last year has only improved with time.
Last season, Haack was scoring 12.4 a night and pairing that total with 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists a contest, too. This year, the junior guard has gotten noticeably better at doing all of these things. Through 15 games, she's averaging 16.7 points, more than four points of improvement from last year. In the rebounding department, Haack's grabbing 5.7 boards a night this season. That's the second-best mark on the team. In the distribution department, however, Haack again reigns supreme. She'd already led the team last year in assists per game with 3.9- this season, she's at 4.2.
As her performances consistently justify, Haack has been a minute-muncher for Upper Iowa so far this season. Her 37.58 minutes of playing time don't just situate her at the top of the NSIC in that statistic- she's the sixth most-employed player in the entire country.
IMPROVEMENT FROM UPPERCLASSMEN AND UNDERCLASSMEN ALIKE
The pair of players that round out Upper Iowa's trio of double-digit averagers may find themselves at much different points in their collegiate careers, but one things for sure- neither of them have ever been better.
It starts with Katie Tornstrom. The senior's always been a steady contributor for Upper Iowa, averaging 9.9 points and 4.2 rebounds on her career. In her swansong season, though, Tornstrom has hit another level. She's scoring 13.3 points a game through 15 tries, a personal best. And speaking of new touchstones, the guard's grabbing 4.7 rebounds a game, too, which would also be a new career-high if it holds. The scariest part of all of this? Tornstrom's hitting these totals while averaging just 20.6 minutes a game. She's started in just one contest for the Peacocks so far. There's a good chance that if she keeps playing like she is, the effort might call for more opportunities. If that happens, Tornstrom might show us she has yet another gear to be hit.
On the opposite side of the coin is Mia Huberty, who's just a sophomore. The guard provided immediate impact in her freshman effort, averaging 7.9 points. She'd have to wait a bit for year two to really get into gear, missing seven games after having been with the team for its season-opener against Southern Arkansas. But it sure hasn't taken Huberty long to pick up right where she'd left off- and then some. Her sophomore effort has seen her average 11.5 points a game through eight appearances and seven starts. The more reps she gets, the more Huberty should just keep improving. That's a scary thought for a guard that's already a player to watch.
BEWARE OF THE BENCH
Speaking of players to keep an eye on…
Oftentimes in a game, there exists the play, the one that really sealed the deal or turned the tide for a team. Think back to moments like that throughout your sports fandom's history. There's no doubt you'll see lots of players that stood at the top of the charts for their teams in one way or another at the time of the moment. However, odds are you'll see a few other faces, too- those of rotational pieces. Glue guys and gals that found themselves out there at the right time to make a career-defining play. If you're on the lookout for potential candidates to fill that role on this Upper Iowa squad, two stand out.
One is Alaina Benning. The junior guard averages 2.4 points a game- that's not the issue, though. Look at her work from the three point line. It's a limited sample size, sure… but she's 6-11 from deep. That's a 54.5% shooting percentage. Picture Benning with the ball in her hands tucked away in the corner, her Peacocks down just two with seconds left on the clock. Odds are higher than a coin flip that the opposing team would regret leaving her open.
Similar story with Callista Rochon-Baker, just with an increased volume of work. The junior guard's shot 54 three-balls so far this year- she's drained 22 of them. That's an efficiency clip of 40.7%. That work has helped Rochon-Baker to average 7.9 points a game so far this season. With so much of her scoring coming from deep, each of those 7.9 digits takes on an extra weight of importance.
HEY, HELEN!
Every player mentioned so far was already a Peacock last year, but it hasn't just been returners that have made an impact. Enter Helen Staley.
Staley came to Fayette ahead of this season after spending her freshman campaign with Division 1's Oakland University. It's safe to say that Staley's getting acclimated to the DII scene pretty quickly. Through 12 games (and nine starts), the forward's pairing 6.5 points a contest with a team-leading average of 5.8 rebounds.
PESKY PEACOCKS
If you're a team trying to grab an offensive board against Staley and the gang… good luck.
Upper Iowa averages 29.9 defensive boards a contest so far this season. That's tops in the NSIC and 19th in the nation. The Bulldogs have shown that they can score, but it's hard to do that if you don't have the ball in your hands. In that spirit, it should be an interesting battle around the glass on Friday.
SCOUTING REPORT ON WINONA STATE (9-7 OVERALL, 3-7 NSIC)
THE BALLAD OF SCOTT BALLARD
Boy, what a couple of years it's been in Winona.
Well, more than a couple, really- nearly two decades. The last 18 seasons have seen the Warriors go a combined 298-210, a 58.7% winning percentage. Out of those 18 tries, 13 of them ended in winning campaigns.
These numbers share a commonality other than just the name on the jersey of the school that produced them- it all happened under one head coach. Welcome Scott Ballard to the floor.
Ballard was no stranger to coaching by the time he became a Warrior in 2004- and winning wasn't all that unfamiliar, either. He already had two multi-year coaching tours under his belt, the first with Missouri Southern State and the next with Central Missouri. Ballard left each of those programs with a surplus of wins compared to when he'd arrived- he went 102-42 at his first stop and 167-90 in stop two. Those are winning percentages of 70.8% and 62.4%, respectively. Let's just say it makes since why Winona would have been excited to bring him aboard.
And it was a "gamble" (in the same way ice is hot and fire is cold) that certainly paid off. You've already heard about his success from a pure win-loss standpoint, but there's more to see than that. Consider the fact that Ballard helped bring Winona State to the program's first ever NCAA Tournament in 2009- just to do it two more times in 2011 and 2016. Speaking of 2016…there almost aren't enough words out there to describe it. That season, the Warriors went 30-4. It's the only time Winona State has ever won the NSIC's Regular Season title, a trophy they could then pair with their only conference tournament gold won back in 2011. For his efforts, Ballard was recognized as more than just the best coach in the NSIC- try one of the best in the entire DII business. He was named 2016's Central Region Coach of the Year by the WBCA.
2021-22 IN A NUTSHELL
But nobody bats a thousand.
Remember that only five of the last 18 seasons of Winona State women's basketball have seen the team close below the .500 line. Last season was one of them.
The Warriors finished 12-15 on the year, 9-13 in conference play. They'd make the NSIC Tournament, but they'd lose their first-round matchup to Bemidji State.
COACHING CONVO
Yeah… you probably knew where this was headed. All good things must come to an end.
Ahead of the 2022-23 season, Ballard announced his retirement from college basketball. Pretty well deserved after 30+ years in the game. With that came the first head coaching vacancy since The Notebook was in theaters. To fill it, Winona State looked in-house.
Ana Wurtz had been with the Warriors since 2013, an associate head coach since 2018-19. By 2020, she was already in the Winona State Athletics Hall of Fame. This season and beyond, she's been given a chance to expand her legacy with the school even further.
WARRIORS SAY FAREWELL
Wurtz had to weather quite a few key departures ahead of her first crack at the head coaching gig.
Three of Winona State's double-digit scorers from 2021-22 - the only three Warriors to average double-figures, in fact- were no longer on the roster by the time 2022-23 rolled around. Headlining the list was Taylor Hustad, who'd averaged a team high 13 points (on 51.6% shooting from the field) to pair with another team high of 7.4 rebounds last year. That's nearly a double-double a night gone the wayside. Then there's Emily Kieck, who did her fair share of scoring (10.7 points worth a game) while leading the Warriors in assists with 4.3 dimes a day. Rounding out the exodus was Emma Fee and both her 10.2 points (on 50.6% shooting) and 6.6 rebounds per game.
RISING TO THE OCCASION
But all is far from lost in Winona. This Warriors group has operated more like some big serpent that their mascot might be trying to slay- three heads lost, in come three more.
It starts with Alex Dornfeld. The junior guard has been nothing short of a revelation for the Warriors so far this season. Now a starter, she's averaging nearly triple the amount of playing time she had last year- seems only right, then, that she's essentially carrying a similar ratio of improvement over to most of her countable stats. Just 0.4 assists a game last year has now turned to 1.9. That's just an appetizer, though. Dornfeld's average of 3.5 rebounds from last year? That's at 9.1 now, a team high. Doesn't stop when it comes to scoring- 3.8 points a game a season ago has now climbed all the way to 12.8 a night through 16 games. That's good enough for Dornfeld to be the team's leading scorer.
She's not the only one putting up points for Winona, though. Take Caitlin Riley, for example. As a sophomore, Riley was about as close as you can be to averaging double-figures without actually doing it. She worked at a clip of nine points a game. She's left little doubt that she's capable of consistently crossing into double-digits this year- because she has. Riley is averaging 11.3 points through 16 games so far this season. It's been a pretty efficient outing along the way, too. The junior isn't just working at a clip of 46.3% shooting from the field- she's a whopping 47.1% from deep, too. And that's with 87 three-point attempts to her name. That efficiency clip is the best in the NSIC and the 10th best in the entire country.
Someone must be dishing out the ball to make all this happen, right? Right. That'd (primarily) be Lauren Fletch. The graduate guard leads all Warriors with 2.4 assists a game. But who says you can't pass the ball and score it, too? Fletch is also the last Winona player to average double-figures so far this year, operating at a rate of 10.1 points a night. Few players deserve a breakout season like this one more than Fletch, who was forced to sit out all but seven games last season after suffering an injury. Hers has been a story of perseverance paying off.
WIN WITH PRECISION
The Warriors run a pretty tight operation when it comes to their overall offensive output. Maybe it isn't all that much of a surprise with a player like Riley in its ranks, but Winona is 3rd in the NSIC and 28th in the country in three-point shooting efficiency at 35.7%. But you have to be weary of the Warriors offensive from all over the court- they shoot 44.5% from the floor. That's third in the conference and 25th in the country.
THE BROADCAST
Can't make it to Romano this weekend? No sweat! You can catch all of the weekend's action live through the NSIC Network by following the links below:
vs Concordia-St. Paul (Friday, Jan. 13 @ 5:30 p.m.): bit.ly/3GzC6pw
vs Winona State (Saturday, Jan. 14 @ 3:30 p.m.): bit.ly/3GYHeF6
UP NEXT
UMD heads back out on the road next weekend, with stops in both North Dakota and Minnesota on the docket. The Bulldogs will start by crossing state lines to play the Cougars in Sioux Falls on Friday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. UMD then heads back over the borderline to play Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m. Note: from this point onwards, the women's team will play after the men rather than before them and occupy the later time window.
