After falling one game short of the G-MAC tournament last year, the women’s basketball team will have its first scrimmage of the season this Saturday against Lewis University Flyers.
“Our team is looking better than ever this year,” senior guard Macy Berglund said. “We have almost everyone returning and have had a great preseason full of learning, growing, and competing.”
The team kicked off its season with a practice last Monday. Its goal for the season is to win its first G-MAC championship.
Freshmen forward Sydney Pnacek and guards Emma Ruhlman and Payton Adkins are rounding up the roster this year, and upperclassmen are excited to see what they bring to the team this season.
“All three are athletic, energetic, and amazing teammates on and off the court,” Berglund said.
These new recruits are following one of the best freshman teams the program has ever seen, with every member either playing or regularly starting in the back half of the season. In May, now-sophomore Peyton Nelson won the G-MAC Freshman of the Year Award.
“We are excited that this year we are able to jump right in as everyone knows expectations,” senior forward Sydney Mills said. “The team has been pushing each other and competing like crazy in practice, so I think this year we are going to surprise even more teams than last year.”
Following the scrimmage, their first official game of the season will be a home game on Nov. 12 against the Truman State University Bulldogs.
Seniors said they hope to make great memories with teammates during their final season as Chargers.
“I am most excited for our trip to Puerto Rico this December,” Berglund said. “I wasn’t able to travel last season due to my injury, so I missed the awesome trip the team had to Alaska. I can’t wait to have this experience with them.”
Mills, who is taking a fifth year to run out her eligibility in the 2023-24 season, said she looks forward to competing this year.
“We are very excited for our first game,” Mills said. “This preseason, we worked super hard, and are very well conditioned and now we are prepared to run with anyone. Nov. 12 can’t come soon enough.”
She said the team hopes to exhibit confidence after their near-tournament season last year.
“We wanna go into each game not fearing anyone, and at the end of the season, by competing each game, we think we have a shot at being a contender for top of the G-MAC,” Mills said.
Mills said she is most excited to play against the Findlay University Oilers.
“Being our long-standing rival, there is always a good crowd when we play Findlay and we are always hyped up to play them,” Mills said. “Also one of my teammates, Carly Callahan, has a twin sister on the Findlay team, Chloe Callahan, so it’s a little extra competitive that week.”
The Chargers also look forward to competing against the G-MAC newcomers, the Northwood University Timberwolves.
“Northwood is coming into the league this year, and they have been very good in the past,” Mills said, “so it will be exciting to see how we match up against them.”
