Women's Basketball | 10/28/2013 4:27:00 PM
Live Stats
Live Audio
McPherson, Kan. – It is a completely different pack of Bulldogs on the women's basketball team at McPherson College. The squad has a new coach and with that a new philosophy and while they'll get their first chance to perform in front of a home crowd later this week, they first have to travel to Lawrence, Kansas for a bout with Haskell Indian Nations; start time is 5:30 p.m. (CT)
The 2013-14 Lady 'Dogs return six from last season's squad with just three having played significant time. A few of the key players include Cheyenne Eisenhour, Bailey Brown and Cami Engelbert. Of the 17 on the roster, 13 are underclassmen and 10 were not on the team a year ago.
"The learning curve is going to be a bit steep right now," said head women's coach Gordon Reimer. "We're going to be playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores so they're young and inexperienced. They'll offset that though with how hard they work. I feel like they'll come along just fine."
Last season McPherson went 14-15 overall and were sixth place in the conference after their 8-10 record; the team was knocked out of the KCAC postseason tournament in the opening round.
Three of the four 2012-13 leading scorers for Mac are no longer on the team in Ali Brewster (8.6 per game), Taylor Puttergill (8.6), and Kaylee Cramer (7.4). Eisenhour and Brown both bring back around seven points a contest. On the defensive end, Eisenhour is the lone returner ranked in the top-five of last year's squad for rebounds and blocks.
Aubrey Barton is the newcomer to watch for MC basketball as the 6-1 sophomore is a matchup nightmare for opposing teams as she looks to play the three spot for the 'Dogs. Chandler Short and Whitney Jefferson will see an increase in minutes in their second season at McPherson. Freshman forward Riley White should provide some steady post-play off the bench as well.
As for goals for the season, Coach Reimer said, "I want to win the last four minutes of every game and I'd like to score 80 points a game."
Time will tell if this young squad is up to the challenge set forth by their coach.
McPherson will be on display for their home crowd on November 2nd when they host Johnson and Wales University of Colorado; start time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Scouting Haskell Indian Nations
The Indians of HINU went 10-21 last year, losing the final four games of the season. A sixth place finish in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference slatted them with a first round game against fourth seeded Waldorf College who ended the year for Haskell 65-53.
HINU averaged 61.42 points a contest while shooting 38.4 percent from the field. They had difficulties making their free throws, 62.9%, and three pointers, 29.4%, which didn't allow them to close out games when they were ahead or get back into ones where they were down late in the contest. The height-challenged Haskell squad averaged a MCAC-low 33.26 rebounds a contest.
Of last year's team, five varsity contributors make their way back to the 2013-14 roster. Point guard Jenine Coriz is the top returning scorer as she averaged 11.1 points a game last season, putting her second on the team. Jennah Williams bucketed over six a contest as a freshman a year ago and looks to be a bigger factor in her second season; she also averaged 3.7 rebounds an outing, placing her second on the team to Coriz.
Next for Haskell, they will play two more KCAC teams in the Southwestern College Tara Patterson Classic on November 8th and 9th; the Indians face Sterling on Friday and Southwestern on Saturday.
