OPENING TIP
The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball will begin the 2013-14 season at home on Monday, Nov. 11 versus Crown College. Tip-off at the R/A Facility is set for 7 p.m. SMSU finished the 2012-13 season 4-25 overall, 2-20 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference under third year head coach
Allison Kruger. The Mustangs' season came to an end in the first round of the NSIC tournament as the No. 1 seed (N) St. Cloud State defeated No. 8 seed (S) SMSU, 72-47.
2012-13 SEASON RECAP
The 2012-13 season saw the Mustangs struggle under third year head coach
Allison Kruger as Southwest Minnesota State finished with an overall record of 4-25, 2-20 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The season was an injury-plagued campaign, seeing
Bree Holleman,
Whitney Miller,
Emilee Duske,
Nathalie Svensson all suffer season-ending injuries, while
Val Sahr,
Jessie Watts,
Hannah Beeler and
Hope Bonlander missed games throughout the season with minor injuries. The injuries and youth was exposed and SMSU finished with the lowest win total under Kruger and the lowest since the 1970-71 season (its second season of existence). SMSU's two conference victories were the lowest in SMSU history and lowest since the 1990-91 season. The Mustangs had encouraging wins over the University of Sioux Falls and Winona State. The Mustangs will welcome back all five starters and 12 letterwinners from the 2012-13 roster.
SMSU HEAD COACH - Allison Kruger
Allison Kruger enters her fourth season as head coach of the SMSU women's basketball team and owns a career record of 17-64. Prior to SMSU, Kruger spent two seasons as assistant coach at NCAA Division I University of South Dakota and four years at Wayne State. In the offseason, Kruger was granted a four-year contract extension to secure her future on the bench for the brown and gold.
OPPONENT AT A GLANCE
The Crown women's basketball team worked through another tough season in 2012-2013, finishing with a record of 2-20 overall and 0-14 in conference play. It marked the seventh consecutive season that Crown has failed to win an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference game, and their UMAC losing streak currently stands at 99 games. The Storm will have to replace senior guard Judy Mundt-Metzger, who finished last season leading the Storm with an average output of 20.6 points per game -- ranking second best in the UMAC. Sophomore Michelle Hyde is Crown's top returing scorer for the Storm as she averaged 13.0 points per game during her freshman campaign. Mary Voss is Crown's top returning rebounder as the junior averaged 8.3 boards per game last season. Third year head coach Ryan Chmielewski will look to guide the young Storm into battle this season as his roster is composed of 15 freshmen and just three upperclassmen.
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS (12)
Mikayla Saathoff,
Bree Holleman,
Megan DeRuyter,
Jessie Watts,
Rebekah Rolling,
Ellen Degler,
Hannah Beeler,
Hope Bonlander,
Whitney Miller,
Annessa Rosch,
Emilee Duske, and
Alison Nagel.
ACADEMIC ALL-NSIC (4)
Hannah Beeler,
Ellen Degler,
Emilee Duske and
Bree Holleman
2012-13 QUICK HITTERS
•
Bree Holleman netted her 100th career 3-point field goal in the 59-80 loss to Upper Iowa on 1/5/13 (9th all-time).
• SMSU lost by a margin of 20+ points ten times.
• SMSU committed more turnovers than the opponent in 21 of 25 losses.
• SMSU committed 20+ turnovers in ten games during the 2012-13 season, SMSU committed 25+ turnovers five times.
• SMSU only scored 60+ points 13 times - SMSU was 3-10 in those contests.
•
Ellen Degler finished the 2012-13 season first in the NSIC in field goal pct. (.602).
•
Rebekah Rolling finished the 2012-13 season ranked 11th in the NSIC in field goal pct. (.459).
•
Mikayla Saathoff finished the 2012-13 season ranked ninth in the NSIC in assists with 65 (3.45 per game).
•
Alison Nagel finished the 2012-13 season ranked 16th in the NSIC in scoring (13.1 ppg, 289 points).
•
Mikayla Saathoff and
Rebekah Rolling, two newcomers, were the only two Mustangs to start in all 28 games.
• SMSU was outscored in the second half 816-656 in NSIC games (160 points).
• In NSIC games, opponents made 281 free throws (387 attempts) to SMSU's 186 (292 attempts).
• In NSIC games, opponents averaged 72.2 points per game and a 44.6 percent FG percentage.
• SMSU ranked last in the NSIC in scoring offense (58.4 ppg), scoring margin (-13.8), rebounding offense (33.1), rebounding margin (-4.1), and turnover margin (-4.36).
