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| Katie Sommer, and her twin sister Kristie Sommer, are lighting up the winter in the early going for Wartburg. Wartburg athletics photo by Alyssa Noble |
Bob Amsberry and Nate Oakland brought a young, unbeaten Wartburg team brimming with confidence to St. Thomas a year ago December, anxious to see how they’d match up with a national powerhouse.
And then …
“(We) really got blasted at their place,” Amsberry, the Knights’ head coach said.
“We got just walloped,” said Oakland, an assistant on last year’s team.
It was an eye-opener. So was a 1-4 start to Iowa Conference play. But the team stuck with it, learned lessons along the way, and ended the season in the conference tournament championship game.
Now, Wartburg is really reaping the benefits.
Amsberry invited three teams to Waverly for the program’s annual holiday tournament, all of whome ended up ranked, and the Knights (10-1) made a national statement by beating previously No. 5-ranked UW-Oshkosh and No. 8 Wheaton (Ill.) last week. No. 16 Wartburg is now ranked for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
“They’re obviously doing OK without me up there,” Oakland laughed.
But you don’t need to feel too sorry for Oakland, because he’s got a talented team of his own a few dozen miles south at Coe.
Yes, the Iowa Conference women’s basketball coaches saw this coming. This being one of the best years for IIAC teams, especially at the top, in recent memory.
Just about every squad – beyond regular-season champion Dubuque – had promising youth last year. Those players are now experienced and reaching another level with IIAC play set to begin Wednesday night.
Wartburg starts three sophomores who played significantly last year in twins Katie and Kristie Sommer and Miranda Murphy and has another, reigning IIAC player of the week Morgan Neuendorf, coming off the bench. They’re led by senior Kailey Kladivo (15.1 points, 8.0 rebounds per game), who surpassed 1,000 career points last week.
Defending conference tournament champion Luther (8-3) – defined by depth and balance – brought back three starters, including the league’s MVP in Moran Lonning, who started her first year after transferring from Division I Northern Iowa.
Coe (9-2) sophomore Aleena Hobbs, a first-team all-conference pick a year ago, leads the league at 20.3 points per game.
Loras (7-4) also returned three starters, including first-team point guard Katilin Phillips, and, oh hey, beat then-No. 7 Washington U last week.
“I think it’s great that we’re finally getting a little more respect on the national level, because we feel like night in and night out we’ve got some of the best teams in the country,” Oakland said.
Amsberry saw the talent in Wartburg’s 2014 incoming class immediately. But he and his staff realized at St. Thomas the team’s defense was not where it needed to be to compete nationally.
The Knights went to work on that end, especially improving off the ball. It was enough to take Luther to the wire in the conference title game.
Through the non-conference slate this year, Wartburg is allowing just 0.86 points per possession, best in the IIAC.
“Defense has been the focus,” Amsberry said. “We know that we’re talented on the offensive end and we can score it in a lot of ways. We’re really balanced. We can play inside. We can play outside. We can attack the rim. We knew all that. I think committing on the defensive end is really a key to our success.”
At Coe, Oakland is instructing a shoot-before-we-turn-it-over offense that has the Kohawks averaging a league-high 75.6 points. Coe, bolstered by first-team guard Mickey Hansche, has more made threes (109) than any conference team and is second behind Wartburg, shooting 35.4 percent from deep.
The next step? You guessed it.
“Early on we were implementing a lot offensively,” Oakland said. “Because of that, I think defensively early on, we were bad ... I think we’ve really grown on the defensive end.”
“That’s been our biggest emphasis the past couple weeks and our kids have really bought into that and are really digging in.”
Both teams know their trips to Decorah will be met with hostility when they have the ball.
Luther’s frantic pace and pressure defense has it forcing an IIAC-best 20.5 turnovers per game. It’s what helped the Norse expose a young Wartburg backcourt in three wins last season.
“I think when our players step on the floor, we’re outmatched by size,” Luther head coach Amanda Bailey said. “We know that’s always going to be the case.”
The solution led to a breakout season and NCAA Tournament appearance. Bailey is hoping to establish consistency in the program, noting the 14-game IIAC schedule is tough because each team is different.
“We’ve got to stay true to who we are, then hopefully we’ll be where we want to be and where we’re supposed to be,” Bailey said. “But it’s a long two-month stretch and we’ve been waiting for it. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Therein lies the beauty of league play – it’s tough to predict anything. After all, the Norse were picked to finish dead last a year ago.
These are 18-to-22-year olds, you know.
Amsberry talked to legendary Wartburg wrestling coach Jim Miller – winner of 10 national championships – earlier this week about handling success and how to relay that message to college students. There could be a lot more to come.
“Our talent right now is meeting our experience,” Amsberry said. “When those two come together, big things can happen.”
Women’s conference reset
IIAC: The conference appears to be the best it’s been in a long time. Potential is there for a multiple-bid league with Wartburg (10-1) and Luther (8-3) the frontrunners and Coe (9-2) and Loras (7-4) not far behind. That’s without even mentioning Simpson (7-4), the traditional power that’s won six of its last seven.
MIAC: St. Catherine bolted to a 6-0 start, was humbled by Bethel and Hamline to begin league play, then beat Carleton and upset St. Thomas. The Tommies are still the favorites, but St. Mary’s (10-1, 4-0) is out to its best start since 1985-86. Gustavus Adolphus, Concordia-Moorhead and St. Olaf have each shown promise, sitting at 3-1. Bethel (6-5, 2-2) just got all-conference guard Kalli Zimmerman back and hopes to live up to the hype of being named preseason favorite in the new calendar year.
NWC: Defending national runner-up George Fox is 11-0. Most dangerous chaser? It looks to be Whitman, which is 10-1 and just beat then-No. 16 Williams by 14 at a neutral site. Whitworth is right there, too, suffering its first league loss to Whitman 55-52 on Tuesday.
SCIAC: Cal Lutheran has rebounded from a 1-3 start to win each of its last eight games, including handing Whitman its only loss, 74-64. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps looks to be on Regals’ tail. The Athenas (7-4) led George Fox by 26 at halftime in December before falling 64-63. Does Redlands have what it takes to be a competitor? The Bulldogs are a competitive 4-4 overall thus far.
UMAC: UW-Superior has the rare opportunity to win conference championships in two straight years in two different conferences. The Yellowjackets, who won the WIAC last year, are 5-0 and haven’t been tested in league play. They should be by Northwestern (Minn.), which is 4-0 in the UMAC and hosts Superior Jan. 16. Minnesota-Morris took the Eagles to OT but has lost three straight conference games for the first time in nine years.
Men’s conference reset
IIAC: Central has by far the best record entering league play at 9-2, but that doesn’t make the Dutch the clear frontrunner. Buena Vista began the season on a four-game losing streak without first-team all-conference forward Kennedy Drey, but has won five of its last seven, including a double-overtime loss to No. 5 Elmhurst. Dubuque has the conference’s best player in Andre Norris and Wartburg showed potential by reaching the conference tournament title game last year with a young backcourt.
MIAC: This looks to be an absolute logjam. Carleton made noise in December by knocking off both St. John’s and St. Thomas, but was beaten 54-43 by St. Olaf, another contender, last Saturday. The Johnnies and Oles are 4-1, the Knights, Tommies and Bethel – which now has the services of all-conference guard Brycen Wojta, back from injury – 3-1.
NWC: The race for the championship looks like a Battle of the Whits. No. 2 Whitworth is 12-0, 3-0 and took a big early step toward its seventh straight title by beating No. 25 Whitman 95-89 Tuesday. Pacific Lutheran should make some noise, too. The Lutes are 9-2 and impressed at the D3Hoops Classic.
SCIAC: This was a three-way tie last at the top last year and there very well could be balance there again. Cal Lutheran gave No. 22 Tufts a run last week before defeating Pomona-Pitzer to begin the conference campaign. La Verne played Whitworth tough to open the season and got a nice win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, a defending co-champion. The other co-champion was Chapman, which should be in the race again. Caltech is 1-0 for the first time since 1970-71 after beating Redlands 46-41 but there’s no evidence yet of the Beavers staying in contention.
UMAC: Northwestern came out of nowhere in the NCAA tournament last year in part because the Eagles were 2-9 in non-conference play. That changed this year when UNW started 10-1, looking to be the favorite, but was upset by North Central last weekend. The Rams are 4-0 in the UMAC may very well be contenders themselves despite being picked eighth. St. Scholastica and first-year member UW-Superior should have a say in this, too.
Let’s connect
Have a story idea that goes beyond the box score? I’d love to hear about it. You can email me at nathan.ford@d3sports.com.
