Today starts a brand new basketball season for the North Dakota women’s basketball and the expecations can’t be higher for this squad. Could this be the year of the breakthrough and the continued upward trajectory of the program? Answers will start to appear with the opening game against Wyoming.
Recap of Last Year:
Just like with the previous season, progress was made with the program: The win total increased to 19, a 3rd place finish in the conference, finally breaking through against both NDSU and USD at home.
The season got off to a weird start after losing their exhibition to D2 Northern State, which caused a panic amongst the fan base. They should have taken a page out of Aaron Rodgers’ book and R-E-L-A-X, when UND rolled off two wins to start the season, including an impressive victory against Wyoming. After losing 3 straight in the middle of November, they ripped off a 7 game winning streak, which included a 2-0 start to conference play. Then a rough road trip through the Dakotas had them sitting at 2-3 in conference play. Then they traded a sweep and getting swept to get to 4-5 at the midway point. Then they turned in on: They slayed the NDSU and USD dragons and finished the 2nd half with a 7-2 record. It ended on a bitter note with an upset loss to Omaha in the Summit League Quarterfinals. They did earn a trip to the WBI, where they went 1-2 and finished 6th.
Departures:
Clair Orth (Graduation), Juliet Gordon (Graduation), Jolene Daninger (Graduation), Maggie Manson (Graduation), Tara Bieniewicz (Graduation), Allie McCarthy (transfer).
Additions:
Destinee Oberg (Minnesota, 5th year). Jayla Owen (Dorval, Sophomore), Paris Bass (Detroit, Michigan, Freshman), Nevaeh Ferrara Horne (Regina, Sask., Freshman), Kiera Pemberton (Langly B.C, Freshman), Fatima Ibrahim (Winnipeg, MB, Freshman), Mahogany Cottingham (Parma, OH, Freshman).
Returners:
5th Year: Sammiyah Hoskin, Kacie Borowicz
Seniors: DJ Davis
Sophomores: Mikayla Aumer, Nakiyah Hurst, Rakiyah Beal, Miranda VanderWal, Darcy Jardine
Offseason News:
- Kacie comes back for unfinished business
This was the biggest story that Kacie was going to use her COVID year to stay at UND. Returning one of the best players in the conference was a huge shot in the arm for UND and will allow fans to take in one of the best players to have stepped on the court in their D1 history. With plently of milestones to chase, she has her eyes set on the big prize: a trip to the dance.
- Coaching Carosal was well… interesting
There was some turnover from the coaching staff as John Motherwell and Nkwane Brown left to go to Central Michigan, while Adam Marso returned back to the U of M to join Dawn Plitzuweit’s staff. So what was Berhard to do to fill her staff. First, she grabbed a former UND basketball player, Travis Bledsoe, to be an assistant. Bledsoe was coaching at Anoka-Ramsey Community College after stints at Centennial and DeLaSalle. Then she added Sabra Wimberley, who coached at Delta College in Michigan and had a stint at Wayne Community College, where she coached current UND player Sammiyah Hoskin. With the last spot, it was starting to take a long time for it to be fill when… wait, is that Motherwell’s music I here!?! Yes, Motherwell returned back to UND to complete the coaching staff.
3. Bernhard Extension… was a bit underwhelming
During the offseason, Mallory Bernhard was given a 2 year extension that will last through the 25-26 season. You would think that would be a good thing but… here’s the issue. Given that she has taken the program from 2 wins to 19 wins and has raised the profile of the team in the Summit League, it was probably worth an additional year or two extension.
Key Questions/Storylines for the season:
- Borowicz chases a historical milestone.
In North Dakota basketball history (both men and women), there are only 6 players who have scored 2000 career points. Troy Huff, Dave Vonesh, and Scott Guldseth for the men and Jenny Crouse, Ashley Langen, and Kierah Kimbrough for the women. Borowicz has a chance to be that 7th person by scoring 534 points this season, which she is fully capable of doing. It is quite the achievement, especially in this day and age of the transfer portal. Can she catch Crouse at 2284? She would need 818 points this year, which is about 186 points more than last year. Would be a tall task but… I wouldn’t count Kacie out.
2. The Sophomore class, are they ready to step up?
With the losses of Manson, Orth, and Gordon, UND is in need of some talent to step up and play in those roles and will lean on Beal, Hurst, and Aumer to get the job done. Beal and Hurst came as highly regarded players and both showed flashes of their talent. Aumer didn’t get out on the court very much because of the glut at the guard spot but you could see her ability to score the basketball when out there. If UND is going to take that next step, these 3 need to be the key. If they can step in at play at the level of Manson, Orth, and Gordon or higher, UND will be winning a lot of games.
3. Are the freshman ready for prime time?
UND added 5 freshman to their team in the offseason and many of them come in with expectations of making an impact on day 1. The Hawks went hard into Canada, bringing in 3 freshman from the Great White North. Are they ready to handle the rigors of Division 1, especially the incoming bigs, who will be counted on. If 1-2 of these girls can make an impact to go with the sophomores and the seniors, UND will have some depth and impact at all 5 spots of the lineup.
4. Are they ready to make the jump?
Every year, UND has made progress. From 2 to 15 to 19 wins. From last, to 5th, to 3rd in the conference. Finally beating NDSU and USD in conference play. There are still some hills to climb for this program and given that the league could be as open as ever, are they ready to jump into the fray and have that breakthrough season? Are they ready to finally beat SDSU or sweep either NDSU or USD and start to swing those rivarly back in UNDs favor? Time to find out
Best Case Scenario
Tuesday March 5th is a magical day for the North Dakota athletic department (see the mens preview). Before the men stamp their ticket to the dance, they are cheering on the UND women as they punch theirs, ending the SoDak monopoly. Hurst and Beal play at a near all-conference level and Aumer gives UND the shooting they need to keep the defenses honest. Borowicz goes on a tear to win Summit League POY and not only gets her 2000th career point but becomes the all time scorer in North Dakota basketball. The women win 24 games and win a share of the regular season crown, splitting their matchups with SDSU and sweeping NDSU and USD in the process. Bernhard gets another contract extension and has another good team coming back for more.
Worst Case Scenario:
The losses from the senior class is just too much for UND to handle this year as they take a semi step back. Youth continutes to have growing pains as teams just double and triple team up on Kacie, making life difficult for her as she just falls short of 2000 career points in the process. Dakota Schools once again sweep UND and UND goes .500 overall and .500 in conference play but once again get bounced in the first round. Making matters worse, NDSU finally breaks through and gets to the dance. Portal finally decides to bite UND.
What I think will happen:
The team continues to make the progress needed to keep the program going in a positive direction. Meaning that they do win 20 games this year and finish in the top 3 of the Summit for the 2nd year in a row. They split once again with NDSU and USD but finally get by SDSU. Kacie gets to 2000 points and settles for 2nd all time leading scorer. Hurst and Beal develop into consistent starters than UND needs and gets some nice development from their bigs. They finally make a run in Sioux Falls and get to Tuesday where…..
I’ll leave that hanging for you to fill in the blanks.
Lets get it going!