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November 15, 2005
Womens basketball hopes to give fans something to cheer about
While the football, soccer, and volleyball teams have been wrapping up their seasons, the womens basketball team has been practicing hard at Hamline. Basketball season is certainly upon us. The Piper womens team should improve upon last year’s loosing season, in which they finished 7-17 and tied for ninth place in the conference. This year, fans will have something to cheer about.
The team has retained the core of their nucleus and their expectations are a little loftier than last year.
“If we play up to our potential, we’ll be in the top three [in the conference],” says Senior Laurisa Ewert.
Ewert is a key component of this year’s team. She led the way for the team in some key statistical categories like blocked shots, steals (3.3/game), field goals made (150), points per game (16.5), and
rebounds (8.5). Ewert also gets to the foul line with some frequency. She will need to have a similar season if the Pipers are to be successful. The six-foot forward was first team All-MIAC and will be among the first five players to step onto the court in competition this year.
The Pipers’ back court is returning this year too. Sharpshooter Carolyn Korchik led the team in three pointers last year. She sunk a whopping 44. Look for the 5-9 Korchik to see a lot of time at the guard position. She makes a lot of shots for herself all over the floor; whether from the free throw line or behind the ark, she makes her shots count. She scored an average of 13 points and grabbed 4.6 rebounds per game in the 2004-2005 season. She will be relied upon even more this year.
Kelly Lines is going to have to have a huge year for the Pipers too. That’s what her teammates are expecting of her. Like Korchik, she makes a lot of shots for herself. Lines isn’t hesitant to pass the ball either. Her teammates say she’s a good defender and a good scorer.
Assists are a category that the Pipers have been working on this offseason. Allison Bratsch is the new floor general for the Pipers. The senior will be on the court starting at point guard.
While all this may make it sound like Hamline’s starting-five will carry the team, little could be further from the truth. This year, Hamline’s bench is deep. Everyone will have to step up their level of play from the previous season. The MIAC is young for the most part, and many programs lost impact players. Carleton and St. Ben’s will be tough, as they are every year, but there is no reason this Piper squad can’t fulfill its potential and make this a playoff season.
In that year, Young-Kruse did the most important thing she could have done: she earned the respect of her team. Coach Young-Kruse has been pushing her players harder in practice this year, and the level of intensity is near the roof. The team looks like they’ve weathered the transition period and they are poised to have a winning season. They look like they click together in scrimmage play. There is a sense of fluidity and cohesiveness on the court.
This team will be exciting to watch, and they hope the fans and student body will be just as excited as they are.
“We’re going to be really good,” says Sophomore Forward Shelby Hyllengren.
The Pipers open the season November 22 at 6 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Posted by msveum at November 15, 2005 12:13 PM
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