St. Kate's Practice 10-29-25

The Wildcats hard at it in practice.  

 Had to battle a ton of traffic on not only I-94 but also on the God-forsaken streets of St Paul but eventually made my way over to Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine University to take in an early season practice at St. Kate's.  I arrived early enough that gave me a chance to catch up with new Wildcats Head Coach (and former Wildcat great herself) Audra Clark and Assistant Coach Ben Fleming who were going over a few items to cover in this day's practice.  By the time I got up to the arena, the team had already been putting up shots and getting loosened up for this day's session.  I also got to catch up with Assistant Coach (and former Wildcat great) Alexis Garcia as well.

The first drill that Clark has on tap for her team on this Thursday evening is called "Iowa State" and with me being a U of Iowa grad, my curiosity was naturally piqued.  Here, you have two lines of players on one side and two more at each end.  The player at the baseline starts off and one player from the side comes off and both go down in a simulated fast-break situation for a lay-up.  The player on the side has  to then go around a cone and then goes back the other way in a simulated fast break situation for a lay-up.

The next drill Clark has her squad go through is "Point Guard Finishes".  Here, the team is split into two different groups.  On one end of the floor, Clark and Garcia work with the guards as they go through a variety of lay-ups and other difficult finishes while Fleming works with the forwards on the other end as they do some 1-on-1 work.

After a well-deserved water break, Clark then conducts the team's next drill called the "Kobe Drill".  Here, you have lines of players at the corner of both baselines.  A dribbler and a defender at the corners of one end go down the floor in a 1-on-1 situation.  The defender makes one trip down against a dribbler and then goes up against a different dribbler on the way back.  

Next, the emphasis shifts to the rebounding aspect.  This starts out as a 1-on-1 situation as Garcia puts up an errant shot and the two players have to battle each other for the rebound.  This gradually gets modified to 2-on-2, 3-on-3 and 4-on-4.  At the end, a group of players have to run sprints for not being able to snare enough rebounds and Coach Fleming runs with them.  

Next is some 4-on-4 half-court work.  Here, the defenders start  in a circle and then go out to guard the four offensive players after Fleming passes the ball to one of the offensive players out on the perimeter.  The emphasis here is to work on some different zone defense techniques.  A round of sprints is again in the offing for the team and Fleming once again runs with them.  

The next drill is called "Full Court 3-man Shooting".  Here, you have small groups of players at each basket.  A player has to run down to one end of the floor to receive a pass and take a mid-range jumper and then runs down to the other end and gets a pass from a plyer on that end to take another mid-range jumper.  This is taking place on the side courts at the same time.  It challenges each player on the endurance aspect and being able to hit jumpers when you're going up and down the floor in a game situation.  Sprints once again are in the offing for the team after this drill is completed.  

Next, Clark has the team in two groups on each end of the floor as each group does some 5-on-0 "shell" work to work on proper movement, spacing and setting correct screens.  Another welll-deserved water break ensues and then Clark has the team work on breaking full-court press situations.

Clark then has the team do some more 5-on-0 "shell" work as she wants to experiment with some different half-court offensive sets and after that it transitions into 5-on-5 half-court work to put into practice some of the things they've been working on over the last few minutes.  The groups switch offensive and defensive roles so everybody gets exposed to different situations.  Fleming works with the defensive group with Clark and Garcia work with the offensive group.  

To close things out on this night, the team meets at center court for one last pep talk of the evening before players go off on their own to do some more free throw work.

Outtakes........While St. Kate's doesn't have what you'd call a large roster, it does have a very interesting mix of both veterans and youngsters and they mesh quite well together.  The chemistry on this team is very, very good and a lot of that is due in part to a very good coaching staff and also to veteran leadership from senior guard Hattie Fox and fellow senior forward Lily Peper.  Clark mentioned to me that she's very close to naming her starting rotation and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Fox, Peper and junior guard Jordyn Peed will most likely be a part of whatever starting five Clark finally decides on.  The one player who could crack into that eventual starting rotation is junior guard Raya Cassidy who has definitely elevated her game from last season.  She really put in the work over the summer and she's not only a spark plug on the defensive side of the ball but now has to be looked at as a legitimate scoring threat as well.  Clark is hopeful that she'll be able to go 8-9 deep and having three or four players coming off the bench in relief will be absolutely huge for this team and their chances.  Of course, staying healthy will be paramount for this Wildcats team but it's not difficult to envision them being in the mix for the MIAC Playoffs.  The early part of the schedule for St. Kate's is somewhat unorthodox as the 'Cats will not waste any time and grab their sunblock lotion and sunglasses and head for Florida in a little less than a week from now as they'll take on two NAIA opponents - New College of Florida in Bradenton on Friday 11-6 and then Webber International University in Babson Park on Saturday 11-7.  Upon returning home, St. Kate's will then make the short hop over to Lee & Penny Anderson Arena to take on former MIAC opponent and now DI UST in an exhibition affair on Tuesday 11-10.  UM-Morris out of the UMAC will pay a visit to Butler Center on Saturday 11-14 and then on Thursday 11-19, the 'Cats will host fellow MIAC opponent Augsburg in an odd non-conference setting.  On Saturday 11-21, St. Kate's will venture north to the frigid shores of Gitche Gumee to take on UMAC favorite UW-Superior and right before the Thanksgiving break the Wildcats will host another UMAC opponent, Bethany Lutheran on Tuesday 11-24.  Then St. Kate's gets into MIAC play as they run over to Bethel on Wednesday 12-2 before making another jaunt up north to aforementioned Great Lake to take on St. Scholastica on Saturday 12-5 before hosting Macalester on Wednesday 12-9.  Finals and the Christmas break come into play but the Wildcats will host a big one in Butler Center on Wednesday 12-30 as UW-River Falls out of the WIAC pays a visit.  Then the meat of the MIAC schedule says hello after the first of the year.  As I see it, there's a path there for the Wildcats to come into January with some momentum on their side.  

Augsburg Practice 10-28-26

The Auggies hard at it in practice.

 Made a relatively quick run over to Si Melby Hall on the campus of Augsburg University on this unusually sunny and warm late October afternoon to take in one of the early season practices of the Augsburg team.  I arrived early but by the time I got into the gym, the team was already in the process of putting some early shots up and getting ready for the day's practice session.  I was able to catch up with Head Coach Mallie Doucette and her assistants, Geno Bullard and Mikayla Kanenwisher who was also getting up some shots herself with one of the players and obviously still has a lot of game and hasn't lost a step.

After the team meets with Doucette at center court for a bit of a pep talk and a review of the things she wants to go over, the team then embarks on the first drill of the day called "Waterfall".  This is a very challenging drill as the team has to make 20 lay-ups, 20 midrange shots and 20 3-point shots.  The caveat on the lay-up part is if there any more than two misses, the team has to start over again.  The key here - FINISH!  

Next, Kanenwisher directs the team in some ball-handling and dribbling skills that are very challenging and utilize the full court.  Players start out at each end of the baseline and then when they get to the mid-court area, they then have to navigate cones while doing crossover dribbles which is very challenging indeed.  Upon reaching the other end, the player has to finish with a lay-up where Kanenwisher and Bullard await as mock defenders to make the finish a bit more challenging.   

Next, Bullard conducts a shooting drill where players have to first complete lay-ups as Geno acts as a defender down low with a pad.  This later gets modified to making a jumper from the elbow area and then a 3-point shot from the wing areas.  Bullard then starts out the process again but this time from the left side so players are getting a variety of shots from all angles.

Next, Bullard then conducts a very interesting drill where you have players in eight different positions on the court with three players at each side.  A player from each end of the floor start out and they pass the ball to the player near the corner and after they get it passed back to them, they then pass to the player near the mid-court area and after getting it passed back to them they then dribble further down and pass it to the player near the corner and once they get it passed back to them, each player then has to complete a lay-up and then do the same process on the other side of the floor going back down the other way.  Each player has to do three sets of this.  Upon finishing, the players take their position along the court so two more players can go.  The emphasis appears to be two-fold - first, to keep things going rhythmically and second to build up endurance and cardio and just watching this drill unfold reveals those who are in top cardio shape and those who still have room to grow in that area. 

After a very well-deserved water break, Doucette has the team do some free throw shooting and then after a bit, Bullard then has the team do some half-court 2-on-2 work which later gets modified to 3-on-3 full-court work where the team works on some of the finer points on offense such as setting proper screens and getting proper spacing.  Kanenwisher also participates in this and guarding someone of her caliber or going up against her when she's a defender is very challenging for the players.  P.S. - She's still got "it".  

Doucette than has the team do a couple rounds of sprints before conducting some spot shooting with players having to make a requisite number of 3-point shots from the corners, wing areas and the top.

To close out the practice on this day, Doucette has the team do some more free throw work but makes it a bit more challenging this time around because if a free throw is missed, the team then has to run a round of sprints.  In this case, the team does a pretty decent job with few sprints being run.  Afterward, Doucette has the team gather up for one final pep talk before calling it a day.

Outtakes........The first thing one likely notices upon viewing the roster is that numbers-wise it's on the small side with only ten players.  Because of that, Doucette mentioned to me that she and her staff have to be fairly creative with what they do in practice each day.  The Auggies have already had one scrimmage with Northwestern last week and although she hasn't publicly revealed who her starting five will be, you can bet that senior guards Sydney Hazuga and Saylor Gallagher will be a part of that starting five and Doucette also hinted that she's leaning toward getting junior guard Evelyn Perkins into that starting group as well.  Doucette does have some youngsters on this team and the one who didn't take long to wow me was lanky freshman guard Katy Devine out of Two Rivers HS.  She's quite a "steal" if there ever was one and she'll make an impact early on and it wouldn't shock me one bit if Doucette ultimately decides to insert her into the starting rotation.  I'd be amiss if I didn't talk about the two seniors on this team.  Gallagher is the kind of player every coach would love to have on their team.  Great leadership skills, smart player and to me seems to be the "glue" that holds this team together.  The fact that she helped pace the Auggies last year with her 9.0 ppg average speaks volumes as to how valuable she really is.  Gallagher was held out of some drills on this day as she's on the tail-end of recovering from a twisted ankle suffered a while back but she should be a full "go" once the season starts about a week from now.  Hazuga who was a standout her first two seasons at Anoka-Ramsey proved to be a very valuable asset as well for Doucette and her staff as she averaged 9.2 ppg last season as a junior and is always a threat behind the arc.  If the Auggies are going to take a step forward this season, it has to start on the defensive side of the ball as Augsburg finished at the bottom of the conference in overall defense giving up an average of 72.6 points per game.  Rebounding is another area that will need to be addressed as well as the Auggies were next to last in conference rebounding margin.  Make no mistake about it - Augsburg will get tested early as they start things out this next week Tuesday 11-3 with an exhibition game over at Concordia St Paul and then host UW-Stout on Saturday 11-7.  The following weekend finds the Auggies playing in the UW-Whitewater Champions Classic Tournament where they'll face two opponents out of the CCIW - Millikin on Friday 11-13 and then powerful Illinois Wesleyan the next day on Saturday 11-14.  A trip to Crown out of the UMAC is slated for Tuesday 11-17 before Augsburg runs over to St. Kate's in a non-conference game setting on Thursday 11-19.  Another opponent out of the UMAC - Martin Luther - pays a visit to Si Melby Hall on Monday 11-23 and then the Auggies get into MIAC play as roadies to GAC and CSB sandwich a home game against Carleton in early December.  One more big non-conference game before the Christmas break remains as UW-River Falls will come calling on Si Melby Hall on Saturday 12-19 before Augsburg delves back into conference play right after the first of the year.  

UW-River Falls Practice 10-26-26

 Made the run over to River Falls, WI on this rainy, dreary Monday afternoon to take in an early season practice at UW-River Falls.  I was smart enough to leave my place early to give myself time with the rain and traffic and arrived at the Falcon Center building shortly after 3:30 that allowed me to catch up with Head Coach Shelby Lyman and her staff and get myself situated for the 4:00 PM practice session.

Things get going as the squad starts doing some light running and stretching to get loosened up for this practice session.  After a short pep talk at midcourt to go over things on this day, Lyman then has the team split into small groups of five that allows the players to get into their shooting groove practicing a variety of jump shots.

Next, Lyman has the squad split into two groups and here each group works on 5-on-0 "shell" drills to focus on proper movement as well as correct spacing and setting proper screens in half-court sets.  Then follows an interesting drill called "5 trips 3 trips" which is something of an extension of what the team was doing previously as this is a full-court 5-on-0 situation with three different groups.  Each group of five players has to get at least one three-point shot to go down in the trips they take up and down the floor.

Another interesting drill follows which Lyman terms "Circle Rebounding".  This is a 5-on-5 full court drill but it starts out with the assigned defensive squad going in a circle across the lane to await an errant jump shot put up by Lyman to get things going.  Upon snaring the defensive rebound, the team then goes downcourt in a full 5-on-5 situation and then, regardless of whether they can capitalize on their offensive end, it then comes back the other way with the other group of five on offense.  The group that comes up with the fewest points at the end has to run a round of sprints.  

After a well-deserved water break, Lyman then has the team work on all-important free throw shooting for a bit before she splits the team into two different groups where each group does some 3-on-3 half-court work as defense is now the focus.  A bit later, Lyman then conducts another drill called "Drive Middle Rotation" which consists of 5-on-5 half-court work where the emphasis is making sure that defensive players switch and rotate correctly.

Then Lyman has the team do some full-court 5-on-5 work to put some of the things they've worked on previously into a game-like situation in hopes of getting a better "feel" for where some of her players are at the moment.  After that, another interesting drill takes place that consists of five players in a half-court situation that initially looks like a 5-on-0 "shell" drill.  But as this drill progresses, assistant coaches Cassie Heinrichs and Emily Kulstad are at the baseline with balls and after a lay-up is made, Heinrichs and Kulstad feed balls to the wing players for three-point shot attempts which in a way is getting two or three aspects into one drill.

On the next drill, Lyman goes back to the defensive aspect as she has her squad work in some zone defensive sets to ensure proper rotation on the defense.  Then, to finish up on this evening's practice, Lyman then has the team split into two groups to do "Kentucky Shooting".  After a short pep talk at center court, the team calls it an evening.

Outtakes........While this team would obviously love to replicate last season's accomplishment of getting to the NCAA Tournament, Lyman and her staff obviously want to take a much different path this time around and avoid all the injuries to key players that they suffered during the 2025-26 campaign.  Even though Lyman hasn't as of yet settled on her starting rotation, it's my guess that senior guard Savannah Leopold, junior guard Taylor Clarey and lanky sophomore forward Emily Anderson will likely be a part of whatever starting five lineup Lyman eventually goes with.  Unlike last year's team, this team is much longer and much of that length comes from the youngsters on the squad; one of which caught my attention - freshman combo guard/forward Chloe Theissen out of White Bear Lake.  Sophomore guard Madisyn Berggren also looks impressive as well.  The early part of the Falcons schedule seems manageable enough although there will be some challenging games in the early stretch - most notably against GAC out of the MIAC which will pay a visit to the Falcon Center on Saturday 11-7 (unfortunately the same day when my UCLA Bruins will be in Dinkytown playing Minnesota and trying to keep their perfect record intact).  The following weekend, UW-River Falls will travel out to D.C. for the Catholic University Classic where the Falcons will first take on Gettysburg; an NCAA Tournament participant last season out of the Centennial Conference on Saturday 11-14 and then take on Penn St - Altoona out of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference on Sunday 11-15.  The following weekend, the Falcons host Edgewood out of the NACC on Saturday 11-21 and then two days before Thanksgiving UW-River Falls will make a run over to the St Paul side of town to take on their second MIAC opponent, Hamline on Tuesday 11-24.  On Thanksgiving weekend, the Falcons will host Carthage out of the CCIW on Saturday 11-28 and will then host Central out of the ARC the following weekend on Saturday 12-5.  Two big tests then await the Falcons - first, a trip out to Waverly, IA to take on perennial powerhouse Wartburg out of the ARC on Wednesday 12-9 before coming back home to take on Bethel out of the MIAC on Saturday 12-12.  Return trips to the Twin Cities sandwich the Christmas/New Year's holiday for UW-River Falls as they will take on two more MIAC opponents - Augsburg on Saturday 12-19 and then St. Kate's on Wednesday 12-30 before delving into WIAC play so the Falcons will get a chance to pad that all important SOS right from the get-go.  The big question is whether they can do it without accumulating all the red crosses that they incurred last season.  

Northwestern Practice 10-22-26

 Made the trip on a busy I-694 over to Snelling Avenue and then the short jaunt over to the campus of the University of Northwestern to take in this early season practice that Head Coach Aaron Kahl and his staff were conducting on this day.  I arrived early enough to catch up on things with Kahl and ask about his team and also get in on a pre-practice film session of the team's scrimmage against Augsburg from the previous night.  Kahl was pointing out some things to his squad that they need to improve on the defensive side of the ball.  After the film session concludes, the team heads to the Ericksen Center court for this day's practice session. 

To start things off, the team does some "social shooting" as they are split into six different groups to find their shooting groove for this evening's practice and get loosened up as well.  Then, Kahl has the team do a 5-on-0 "shell" drill to emphasize correct movement, spacing and setting correct screens.

Kahl then has the team perform some more warm-up running and stretching before moving onto the next drill which is called "Piper Shooting".  Here, the team is split into two groups at each basket with two lines of players at the top and one line at each corner.  The players at the top pass the ball to their respective corners and the corner players take three-point shots while the two players who passed the ball to the corner players go to the corner to await their turn and vice versa.  After about five minutes or so, Kahl then modifies the drill where the shooters are now at the top.  

Next, Kahl has the team split into four different groups.  One group works on 1-on-1 situations while another group works on 2-on-2 post traps.  The third group works on 2-on-2 out of bounds situations while the fourth group works on 2-on-2 wing close outs.  These groups switch to different stations every five minutes or so.  

After a well-deserved hydration break, the next drill is entitled "PCR".  Here, the team is split into three groups where they do 5-on-0 "shell" work for proper movement and spacing in half-court offensive sets.  Kahl later modifies this where both groups do 5-on-5 half-court work to put some of these principles into action.

After another well-deserved water break, the team dives into the next drill called "Tips and trips".  Here, you have one offensive player from near the half-court line and another offensive player down low and one defender trying to disrupt.  Kahl modifies this to a 3-on-2 situation and eventually to a 4-on-3 situation.

Next, the team is split into three different groups to work on some offensive skill sets.  One group works on backdoor passes while the second group works on 2-on-2 ball screens.  The third group meanwhile works on what is called "veer get action".  After five minutes or so, the players switch stations until the players have done all three stations.

After another well-deserved hydration break, the team then partakes in what is called "Around the Nest" free throw shooting.  Here, the team is split into six small groups to work on their free throw shooting which is always so critical in tight game situations.

The last drill of the evening is an interesting drill called "Popcorn Shooting".  Here, the team is split into two groups and players on each group get fed balls and have to work on  variety of jump shots.  After some time, the team comes into a circle at the talk for one last pep talk and prayer before calling it an evening.

Outtakes........Kahl had to depart practice early on this night but I was able to talk to him upon my arrival.  While this team is still very young and dominated by freshmen and sophomores, he's at least got a roster that has valuable college basketball experience unlike his team from last year so he's hopeful that his squad can be much more of a factor in the UMAC playoff chase this time around.  They scrimmage against CSB on Tuesday evening 10-27 and like the Bennies, this is a very guard-oriented team with a lot of quickness.  While I don't think Kahl has settled in on who will all be a part of the starting rotation, I would have to guess that sophomore guard Ella Frazier along with junior guard Brenna Vogel and senior combo guard/forward Katelyn Lindberg will figure prominently for the Eagles.  Again, the challenge for Kahl and his staff will be developing depth and staying relatively healthy throughout the season.  The early part of the schedule - for the most part anyway - looks manageable as they first take on two MIAC opponents - Macalester on Saturday 11-7 before running down to Northfield on Wednesday 11-11 to take on what appears to be a vastly-improved St. Olaf team.  Luther; now out of the MWC, pays a visit to Ericksen Center on Saturday 11-14 before the Eagles make a run down Snelling Avenue to take on another MIAC neighbor in Hamline on Wednesday 11-18.  On Saturday 11-21, Northwestern will host Emmaus University; an NCCAA opponent out of Dubuque, IA and three days after that on 11-24, Carleton from the MIAC will pay a visit to Ericksen Center as well.  On Wednesday 12-2, the Eagles will host Martin Luther in their first UMAC game before another NCCAA opponent - Maranatha Baptist - comes to Ericksen Center on Saturday 12-5.  So there's an opportunity for Northwestern to get off to a decent start and be able to hit the ground running before they delve into the meat of the UMAC regular season.       

CSB Practice 10-21-26

CSB team getting at it in practice this week!  

 Made a good trip up US Highway 10 and the BNSF Staples Sub mainline to the St. Cloud area and over to nearby St. Joe on this beautiful Indian Summer afternoon to take in an early season practice at CSB.  I arrived early enough to catch up with Head Coach Mike Durbin and his staff as the squad started doing various light running and stretching exercises on the Recreation basketball floor while the volleyball team was finishing up its practice on the main floor in Claire Lynch Hall.

Once the team was able to get onto the main floor, Durbin first has the team split into six small groups.  The smaller groups of two people had one shooter practicing jump shots from the free throw line area with one rebounder while the groups with four players had two shooters - one who would take jumpers from the free throw line area and another shooter practicing shots from different wing positions with a rebounder for each.  After five minutes, the roles would be reversed so all players would get a chance to get some mid-range jumpers in.  

For the next drill, Durbin has the team in 5 lines in different spots on the floor at one basket - one line at the top, a line at each wing spot and a line at both corners.  The emphasis on this drill is to have crisp, sharp passing between the different spots in a half-court offensive set and its little wonder why Durbin's CSB teams over the years are some of the best passing teams that you'll see.  

For the next drill, Durbin has the squad in two lines at the top.  Each player at the top of the line has a ball and the two players drive into the lane, crossing each other in the process and complete a lay-up.  After a bit, this drill is modified where the two lines are split wider to the wing positions and then modified once more as the groups have to start out from the corner spots and have to drive along the baseline.  It's not as easy at it initially appears.  

Next, Durbin has the team split into four groups where two players initially work on a variety of jump shots with two rebounders to keep things moving and players rotate roles every five minutes.  This drill then gets modified where a ball handler has a defender on her along with two offensive players near each elbow area who act strictly as passers or catchers for the ball handler which makes for a difficult assignment for the lone defender in each situation.

Next, Durbin has the team split into two different groups.  One group at one basket works on one-on-one situations while the other group at the other basket works on three-point shots and shots in the lane.  After some time, these groups switch.

After a well-deserved water break, Durbin again has the team split into two different groups at each basket but this time around, the drill is set up where you have two groups of one defender up against two offensive player and the defender in each case has to come up against the offensive player to contest the pass.  After a bit, Durbin modifies things to two defenders taking on three offensive players where the two defenders have to contest the passes and also defend against the score in the paint.  After some time, this drill is modified once more by Durbin where it becomes four defenders going up against five offensive players in a half-court situation.

After another well-deserved water break, Assistant Coach Rick Canton conducts a 5-on-0 "shell" drill to have players working on cutting and setting proper screens.  After a bit, this gets changed up to a 5-on-5 half-court situation to put some of these concepts learned into practice against defenders in a pressure situation.  This gets modified a bit more as you have three groups of five players with one group on the opposite end of the floor.  If a shot is missed by the offensive team on the other end and the defensive team rebounds, that defensive team then has to take the ball the other way and get ready to go up against the five players on the other end.  

After another well-deserved water break and a chance for the team to work on free throw shooting for a bit, Durbin conducts a very interesting drill that starts out as five offensive players initially going up against three defenders in a full court situation.  But after the ball is inbounded and the five offensive players have made their way up the court, two more defenders from the baseline come in and have to rush up the court to join the three other defenders in a half-court situation.  Regardless of what happens on this end, they return the other way going 5-on-5.  

The next drill which is conducted by Assistant Coach Steve Howe-Veenstra is essentially a 5-on-5 full-court situation but with a twist - the five defenders have to start going in a small circle that allows the five offensive players to get up court in an up-tempo situation before the defenders can release and race down the floor to match up.  It's very interesting to watch.  

Lastly on this night, Durbin has the team do some 5-on-5 half-court work with different groups to work on some different plays and some different situations.  To close out the evening practice, Durbin has the team in a circle for a departing pep talk before the team calls it a night.

Outtakes.......Unlike many of the other teams Durbin has had during his long tenure at CSB that seemed to have an abundance of players with length, this particular team definitely appears to be much more guard-oriented.  Not to say that he doesn't have length - he does - but this team is much more guard-oriented than in years past.  Towards that end, Durbin mentioned after the practice session was over that he's in the process of changing his offense and his offensive mindset to fit this team and, from what I could tell, it seems to be working even if it's only mid/late-October.  The other thing that stands out when you look at the roster is how young this team is as the squad is dominated by freshmen and sophomores.  And there are most definitely some exciting new faces on this Bennie team that hold a lot of promise but the one that stood out to me the most was freshman Liz Vitt out of Edina.  While she may arguably have room to grow on the defensive side of the ball, don't be surprised if she indeed works her way into the starting rotation and with some experience and time in the weight room, she'll pose some real matchup problems for MIAC opponents.  The core of this group that will make up the remaining portion of the starting rotation looks to be junior point guard Lauren Arnold, fellow junior wing guard Alyssa Sadlovsky, fellow junior wing Drew Buslee and lanky sophomore post Emma Theisen and that's a pretty solid starting five, IMHO.  If one takes a look at MIAC stats for 2025-26, you'll see that the Bennies were in the top four in team offense and they were tops in the conference in team free throw percentage which is absolutely where you want to be.  Beyond that, it isn't so rosy as CSB was tenth in the conference in combined team rebounds and in next to last place in defensive rebounds.  And while we know the Bennies can score, they were ninth in the conference in team FG percentage and tenth in opponents FG percentage.  Team three-point shooting percentage was also a concern last season where CSB finished in ninth place in that category and the Bennies were in the middle of the pack when it came to assist/turnover ratio.  So obviously there's some things that will have to be cleaned up and worked on - especially on the defensive end - if CSB hopes to be a primary factor in the MIAC Playoff race this time around.  Given the youth trend on this team, Durbin told me that "We'll be tested early on" and a look at the early part of the schedule explains a good amount of that concern as the Bennies will start things off with their own Tip-Off Tournament Classic going up against UM-Morris out of the UMAC on Friday 11-6 and then Loras out of the ARC the next day on Saturday 11-7.  The following weekend brings another exciting outing in Claire Lynch Hall with the Iowa vs Minnesota Clash where CSB will take on two teams out of the ARC - Central on Friday 11-13 and then Simpson on Saturday 11-14 which should be fun.  On Thanksgiving weekend, CSB takes a trip to Mankato to face one of the favorites in the UMAC in Bethany Lutheran on Saturday 11-28 and then getting three conference games after that:  At Hamline on Wednesday 12-2, at home vs St. Olaf on Saturday 12-5 and at home vs Augsburg on Wednesday 12-9.  Just before the holidays, the Bennies will pack their sunglasses and sunblock lotion and head to Naples, FL where they'll face Wooster out of the NCAC on Saturday 12-19 and then Penn College out of the UEC on Sunday 12-20 before getting back into conference play for good right after the first of the year.     

A New Season Is Now Upon Us!

 Well, today is October 15th and that means the dawn of a brand new season that is now upon us!  So, over the next few weeks I'll be hoping to have reports on some different teams and their practices and how they're looking.  I always looks forward to this time of the year.

As you can imagine, I'm currently riding the high of my UCLA Bruins right now (and also trying to soothe the pain my LA Rams are giving me at the moment as well) and I hope everyone is doing well and hope to see you all again soon.

Let's get this new season underway!