UNC women's basketball team young, dynamic…
UNC women's hoops team is young, dynamic and prepared for uncertainties
UNC women's basketball took on Portland State at Bank of Colorado Arena on Dec. 28, 2019. (Tamara Markard/Greeley Tribune)
By Jadyn Watson Fisher | jwatson-fisher@greeleytribune.com | Greeley Tribune
Just like the men's team, the University of Northern Colorado women's basketball team is gearing up to step onto the court for what may be a wild and uncertain season.
Head coach Jenny Huth said she's thankful that COVID-19 didn't disrupt the season like other teams have experienced. The Bears ended their season at the Big Sky Tournament in March and are starting at roughly the same time as a typical year.
"I was really pleased that we ended well. We kind of left it on the floor, we played our best basketball in March, which is what we were going for," Huth said. "I think that only gives you confidence going into next season."
Still, the pandemic brought ambiguity, questions and a couple of mild COVID cases.
"There have been some practices where we have less players available, but fortunately, we've come up negative for the most part," Huth said. "I told our team we have to be resilient this year. We have to be flexible. We've got to keep a positive attitude in terms of what may come our way."
Not only did UNC add several new players, but the bench will feature new faces.
Associate head coach Sean LeBeauf and assistant coach Breanna Workman joined Huth's team this summer. LeBeauf played at the University of Montevallo in Alabama and served as an assistant at Arizona during Workman's playing career. She graduated in 2017 and served on two separate coaching staffs before her hire.
"They've played at high levels and also coached before getting here. I think the production level in practice is going up, which is a lot of fun," Huth said of the new additions. "We have fun together. I think we have really good chemistry as a staff."
The new players, many underclassmen, have also impressed Huth. She said several freshmen came from strong, well-coached high school programs that helped speed up the adjustment period. It's provided inspiration and accountability for the older players to stay on top of their game and not get lazy.
"We have a really motivated freshman class, and they're really excited to be here. That's fun," senior guard Alexis Chapman said last week at virtual media day. "You don't find that all the time. Our sophomores, they're just ready to go. They're hungry, they want to get out on the court. It's awesome."
What the team wants to improve
Despite having players who have already earned minutes or starting spots, UNC has a young team with nine underclassmen. This means there is room for a lot of growth.
"Last season, I think there were times the opponent didn't necessarily beat us, we beat ourselves," Huth said.
The third-year coach expects the team to finetune a lot of smaller details. She wants players to take care of the ball more and not give opponents points of turnovers. Huth wants them to learn how to recognize trends in-game — like when someone is shooting well or if they're lagging in a certain area.
UNC has also prioritized rebounding drills. The team lost players who tallied dozens of boards for the Bears. Huth knows her current players aren't as big as some other teams, but she still holds high expectations.
"When you're hungry, you can pursue the glass, and when you're physical, you can keep people off of (it)," Huth said. "That will be something that we really capitalize on and will need to be fundamentally sound on."
Chapman said she spent a large portion of the offseason improving her game to become a more well-rounded shooter.
"I think most teams predict me to shoot the 3, but I want to expand my game a lot this year," Chapman said. "I spent a lot of time working on getting to the basket and improving my ball-handling to do that."
Even with a list of things to work on, Huth is pleased with the team she and her staff have created.
In addition to Chapman, UNC also returns sophomore Alisha Davis, who was a starter last year and earned a spot on the Big Sky Conference preseason All-Conference team.
"I think we have some good experience coming back from last year. That's a strength of ours," Huth said. "I think we've added some really dynamic pieces to our unit, and I'm really excited about that."
Huth said she expects Davis and Chapman to have big years, but she also has high hopes for freshman Hannah Simental from Pueblo and junior Micayla Isenbart from Stratton.
Simental and Pueblo West won the Class 4A South Central League three years straight. She was named league MVP three times and earned the 4A Player of the Year award last season. Simental averaged 22 points, four steals and four assists per game.
Isenbart returns for her junior season after starting 23-of-28 games last season, averaging 7.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest. She finished six games in double figures and grabbed a career-high 13 boards against Wyoming last December.
The guard/forward was one of the team's top performing shooters from deep, making 43 on the season, trailing only Chapman.
Five players on the roster call Colorado home. Huth acknowledges the strength out-of-state players bring to the team, but, like other UNC coaches, she knows in-state players are important for a thriving program.
"When you have in-state players, people tend to watch them in their preps careers and then follow them through their collegiate career," Huth said. "I think it draws in a great sense of community."
Handling adversity
This season is expected to feature changes and uncertainty.
The schedule features fewer games, and most of the conference matchups will take place on one weekend at one location as opposed to a home-and-home format.
UNC has also suspended fans attendance at games until at least January 2021 due to rising COVID-19 cases. It's unclear if it will be safe to allow fans next year, but the university is working with officials to evaluate next steps.
Despite the unknowns, Huth said the team is close knit and operating like a family, ready to weather whatever comes this year. She is happy to see the way players and coaches interact and care for each other.
Huth knows each person will handle each situation differently, but they are all committed to safety and doing what they can to have a successful season — even if it looks different from traditional years.
"We talk about how you will have adversity throughout your life, and this is just an opportunity to practice it," Huth said. "You can use this adversity in your favor or you can pout about it. I think we're choosing the mindset of using adversity to our advantage. Whatever that looks like this year. I really enjoy this group of women and I think there's a lot of potential and growth from last year that's going to happen."
The women will open the season on Nov. 25 against Kansas in Lawrence. They will return to Greeley for a three-game home stretch, featuring Omaha, Denver and Abilene Christian.
Jadyn Watson Fisher | Sports reporter