Simpson Approach Unique to Blazers

St. Cloud Times March 2, 2005

Frank Rajkowski, Staff Writer

Simpson women's basketball coach Brian Niemuth does not have a player who puts up huge numbers on his roster. But he does have a groupwho are all capable of getting the job done.

The Storm (22-6 overall), who face St. Benedict (22-4) in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament at 7:30 p.m. today at Claire Lynch Hall, don't have a player averaging more than 8.8 points per game. But they have four players who average more than eight points and nine players who average more than five.

"That's a pretty good assessment of our team, I think," said Niemuth, whose team finished second in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, but earned the IIAC's automatic tournament berth by defeating Wartburg 69-62 in the conference playoff finals Saturday. "We don't have anybody in double figures, but we have a bunch who are averaging around six or seven points a game. We're pretty well-balanced.

"That can be a good thing and a bad thing. We play a lot of people, but we don't have that one player we can count on when it gets down to crunch time either."

The ensemble approach makes Simpson a different team to prepare for than Concordia or Carleton, the teams the Blazers beat in the semifinals and finals of last week's MIAC tournament. The Cobbers and Knights each had dominant scorers in guard Mandy Pearson and forward Megan Vig, respectively.

"You have to watch out for everyone on a team like this," said St. Benedict junior post Anna Heikenen, who averages 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. "Anyone is capable of going off at anytime. They have a lot of solid role players, so we have to be patient and take it one possession at a time."

The play of the Blazers' posts has been a team strength all season, even more so down the stretch. As a group, the 5-foot-11 Heikenen, 6-4 senior Kim Johnson, 6-2 senior Tara Schloe and 6-0 sophomore Ellie Boone have averaged 48.3 points per game in their team's last six games.

The Storm have two players over six feet: Kara DeNoon, a 6-1 junior center who comes off the bench, and Ashley Hansen, a 6-0 sophomore center who transferred from IIAC rival Central and is averaging 8.7 points per game.

"Size-wise, they're bigger than we are, but we've run up against that all year in our conference," Niemuth said. "We just have to try and get up and down the court. That's our game. If we get into a half-court game and let them bring the ball down and pound it inside against us, we're going to have problems."

Simpson is holding its opposition to an average of 59.4 points per game and is averaging 16.25 steals per contest. Junior guard Dana Johnson leads the team with 74. Senior forward Ashley Bogaards, who is averaging a team-best 8.8 points per game off the bench, has 56. Six players have more than 40.

"We know they like to press and run," St. Benedict coach Mike Durbin said. "We have to be patient against them. Based on what we know, they're most similar to Wisconsin-Stout (which the Blazers beat in the first round of the 2002 tournament) in that they don't just sub a few players. They sub whole lines at a time."

The two teams share a common opponent this season in Coe, a team St. Benedict defeated 73-51 in non-conference play on Dec. 11. The Storm beat the Kohawks 77-44 on Jan. 22 and 71-43 on Feb. 11.

"It's hard to take much from that," Durbin said. "There are so many variables. We played (Coe) so early. It's always an advantage to get a feel for the style of another conference, but I think it takes more than one game to really do that."

The winner of tonight's game advances to face IIAC regular-season champion Buena Vista (25-2), which was upset by Wartburg in the conference tournament semifinals, on Saturday in Storm Lake, Iowa.

"We have to take it one game at a time," said Schloe, who is one of only two Blazers players (Johnson being the other) with NCAA tournament experience. "We can't think about where we're going to go if we win. We have to focus on Simpson. They have 11 scorers on their team and we know it's going to be a challenge."

Game notes

Heikenen, who has been battling bronchitis and a bruised back, said she feels healthy and is ready to play. She averaged 20.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in her team's three MIAC tournament contests and was named this week's MIAC player of the week.

Simpson junior center Sarah Pearson, who averaged 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in her team's three IIAC tournament contests, was named this week's IIAC player of the week.

St. Benedict is 0-2 against the IIAC in NCAA tournament play. The Blazers fell to Wartburg 74-64 in sectional round play in 1992 and to Central 60-59 in the national semifinals in 1993.

Athletic Department
College of Saint Benedict
37 South College Avenue
St. Joseph, MN 56374
320-363-5301
Fax 320-363-6098