Women's Basketball Season Preview
The Eagle women are scheduled to hit the court for their first regular season game on Tuesday, November 14 at 4:30 PM. The Eagles opening test will be against Union College (Lincoln, NE). The game will be an early test for an almost completely new roster for this year's young Eagle team.
The lone returning starter for this year's team is senior Shannon Steffen. Shannon will serve as the team's captain and will play at the wing position. Steffen will be looked to defensively to provide stability and experience while maintaining her 10 point per game average on the offensive end.
An exciting group of freshmen joins Steffen. At the wing, Lyndi Shepard, Aubree Smith, and Alicia Smith will provide a solid group of ball handlers and scorers. The Eagles added versatile players in Mackenzie Hanson and Michaela Crider who can play both wing and post. Crider will see most of her minutes in the post while Hanson will split time between both positions. Anchoring the middle for the Eagles will be Ankeny Christian's Bekah Smith. At 6' tall, Bekah gives the Eagles a solid inside presence on both ends of the court. Rounding out the Eagle's squad are posts Cheyenne Pernice-Hedrick, Kimberly McDaniel, and Effie Cummins.
One of the biggest challenges for the Eagles so far has been finding time for the team to practice. All but one of the Eagles are on either the women's soccer or volleyball teams, so the Eagles have not had many opportunities to practice leading up to the season opener next week. "I'm really excited for the potential this team has," noted coach Fincham. "I think we'll be much improved on both ends of the court. We should be very strong defensively with the guards we have added and Bekah anchoring us inside. It may take us a few weeks to get going with the limited practices we've had, but by post season play, I think we're going to be a very competitive team."
The Eagles jump right into their season next week. After their home opener against Union College, the Eagles will host Trinity Bible College and Association Free Lutheran Bible School as part of the Eagle's annual Faith Classic Tournament.