MITCHELL, S.D. – It's a new season with some new faces in key roles for the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team. The experienced youth from last season will have its chance to shine in 2015-16 as the Tigers look to move toward the top of the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
DWU finished last season 14-17 overall and 7-13 in the GPAC. The record is misleading, as the Tigers fell in several close games to ranked teams in a tough GPAC, which filled all four spots in the NAIA Division II National Semifinals. The Tigers look to reach the level of the top teams in the conference in head coach Jason Christensen's sixth season on the bench at his alma mater.
The Tigers played 11 ranked teams a year ago and another three that were receiving votes. DWU won four of those games, including a victory over No. 7 University of Jamestown early in the season. The Tigers will likely see a rigorous schedule again in 2015-16, as the GPAC continues to be one of the best conferences in the nation for women's basketball. The conference added College of Saint Mary, which finished last season ranked No. 14 in the nation, reaching the second round of the NAIA National Tournament before falling to eventual runner-up Concordia University, also from the GPAC.
The Tigers will need to replace a pair of 1,000-point scorers, with Celeste Beck and Katie Johnson graduating. DWU also lost starter Micaela Erickson, who returned to the Tigers for a fifth season last year before suffering her third significant knee injury midway through the campaign. Beck does return to the team in 2015-16, now as an assistant coach.
While a large portion of DWU's production graduated, several young players received valuable playing time in 2014-15. The Tigers return three players who started a large portion of the season for Christensen a year ago.
Juniors Gabby Frykbo and Erica Herrold are going to be looked at for leadership as returners with starting experience.
Sophomores Ashley Bray, Amber Bray and Madison Kuehl, along with junior Kristin Sabers all saw significant playing time and made contributions to the team a year ago. Christensen will not have a senior on his varsity roster this season.
"We've seen a lot of growth from our younger players and have had some of those underclassmen start to take on larger roles," Christensen said. "Last year it took a while for this group to mesh, but now they have had a chance to play together for a year and have a better feel for each other and for the speed of the game in our league."
Herrold is the leading returning scorer from last year's Tigers, averaging 12.1 points per game, which was second only to Beck's 12.2 points per contest. Herrold was dominant at times as a sophomore, leading the team in scoring in seven games. She scored a season-high 23 points in an early season win over No. 17 Mayville State University. Herrold scored at least 10 points in 20 out of 31 games for DWU last year.
Fellow junior, Sabers came off the bench last season and provided a scoring punch for the Tigers on several occasions. She averaged nine points per game, including a season-high 25 in a blowout win over Dordt College early in the conference schedule. Despite her role off the bench, Sabers led the Tigers in scoring three times. She hit 34 3-pointers as a sophomore and was third on the team with 113 rebounds.
"Our juniors will definitely be counted on to provide some of that on-court leadership, as well as set the tone for our expectations in practice and off the court," Christensen said. "They know by now what we expect in our program and what they need to do to help us get there."
Frykbo, who played her first season with the Tigers last year after transferring from Colorado State University before the season, also enters her junior season. She was second on the team with 39 made 3-pointers and second with 65 assists from the point guard position. Other juniors include DWU veterans LexyJo Deneke and Kendra Cheeseman, who have primarily been with the DWU junior varsity team in their first two seasons.
The sophomore class members may be in just their second season under Christensen, but this group is anything but inexperienced. Amber and Ashley Bray, along with Kuehl, each saw their playing time increase throughout the 2014-15 season.
Ashley Bray was fifth on the team with nine points per game as a freshman. She had back-to-back games against Doane College and Concordia University with 20-plus points, leading DWU in both contests. She was also a force down low, pulling down 3.7 rebounds per game. Her identical twin sister Amber Bray also saw her production trend in the right direction as her first season progressed despite a midseason injury. She scored a career-high eight points in a late-season win over Doane. The twin towers each averaged 50 percent shooting from the field.
The Tigers did suffer a tough loss during the preseason with returning sophomore starter Chesney Nagel going down with an injury. Nagel will take a medical redshirt in 2015-16, and the Tigers hope to have her back next season. Playing the guard position, Nagel was able to lead the Tigers in rebounding three times, finishing with 97 total rebounds to go along with 26 steals in her freshman season.
Kuehl was yet another young Tiger who worked her way into the rotation as the season moved along. She showed scoring ability off the bench and exploded for a career-best 19 points in a home win over Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Sophomore Shanna Selby will look to play her way on to the court this season after limited playing time as a freshman. Selby played with the varsity team throughout her freshman season, entering the game 10 times.
"It's never easy to be a freshman in our league, but as hard as it is at times, it's also a great opportunity to grow and prepare for the future," Christensen said. "Our sophomores who had the chance to play last year know what it takes now and hopefully won't have to experience those growing pains again this season."
With a new year comes freshmen, and this year's class has a chance to also become special. The top recruits for the Tigers for this season include Rylie Osthus, Hope Menning, Angelique Lee, Kelsey Bertram, Morgan Selland and Meghan Travis. A couple of names in this year's class may sound familiar. Hope Menning is the sister of former DWU men's basketball All-American Kris Menning, while Angelique Lee is the sister of former DWU men's player Stephen Lee.
Despite the youth of the 2015-16 Tigers, Christensen is confident and excited about what this team can show at the Corn Palace and in the GPAC this season.
"We know our league is tough and we're still a fairly young team, but we're confident about the direction we're headed in and about what we can do this year," Christensen said. "We're excited to get started and to keep getting better."