Women’s basketball shows improvement early
BY CORY BUCHTA
The Bethel College Women’s basketball team has struck success early.
After playing only eight games, the team has achieved some impressive statistics.
As of press time, the Bethel College women’s basketball team was ranked 13th among NAIA Division II schools in defensive scoring, 18th in blocks, 4th in defensive rebounding and 2nd in the nation in total rebounding margin.
“Except for the Tabor game, we have out rebounded every team we’ve played, both offensively and defensively,” said Dana Rathbun, a junior from Bennington.
Last year the team finished the season in tenth place in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC). They had three wins and 24 losses on the season.
“The past two years have not been as successful as we would like,” said Rathbun.
At the conclusion of last season, the team developed some goals for this season.
Winning a preseason or midseason tournament was among those goals. On Nov. 18, the team accomplished this goal with a win over Newman University for the Bethel College Classic title.
“We played well in front of our home crowd and beat a pretty good Newman team,” said student assistant coach Brad Kohlman, a senior from Lyons.
Kohlman attributes this improvement from last year to dedication.
“An improved work ethic has helped out this team. The girls put in many hours a week working on their game and they are committed to getting better.”
The work is apparently paying off.
“We’re defending better than last year, we’re more athletic, and we have a higher basketball IQ,” said head coach Mark Fox.
Though the team has seen marked improvements from last season, they are still overcoming challenges offensively.
Coach Fox said, “We’re still going to struggle some putting the ball in the basket as we just don’t have a pure shooter yet.”
While last year the team may not have had a desirable win-loss record, they still had at least one major accomplishment. The women were ranked 25th in the nation in team GPA.
“We intend to better that this year. We have a great group of young ladies who understand our emphasis on the student part of student-athlete,” Fox said.
The women are 3-5 now, 0-2 in conference play. In the coaches pre-season poll they were picked to finish tenth in the conference this year.
The KCAC will be a very competitive conference this year. So far, Ottawa University, Tabor College and Sterling College have been ranked in the top 15 in the nation.
The Threshers resume conference play at McPherson College on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m.