×

Lady Warriors eye second half improvement

Meskwaki (2-7)

As the Lady Warriors sit at the halfway mark of the season, they find themselves in familiar territory. The team has once again been plagued with turnovers. The lack of consistent ball-handling has allowed opposing teams to press after made baskets, making Meskwaki work just to get the ball past half-court. Through nine games, the Lady Warriors have turned the ball over 216 times, giving them an average of 24 a game. In comparison, conference leading Colo-Nesco has turned the ball over just 144 times, giving them a much more reasonable average of 16 a game.

Despite the surplus of turnovers and lack of team scoring the schedule makers have set the Lady Warriors up quite nicely in the second half, specifically the final three games. That trio of games includes East Marshall, CAL Latimer, and AGWSR who are a combined (3-20) on the season. Also, the team will host division rival Waterloo Christian, whom they’ve already defeated, and a (4-5) Riceville squad. Given the amount of winnable games, there are reasons for optimism heading into the second half.

As far as individual statistics go Grace Tahahwah is once again paving the way. Tahahwah heads into the break leading the team in every individual category highlighted by points per game (12.9), blocks (25), and steals (29). However, if the team is to see second-half improvement, balance around Tahahwah will need to be established. That help could come from a team-wide mid-set to collect more rebounds as the they are currently last in the conference in total rebounds (247).

Colo-Nesco (8-1)

With Makaelyn Neuendorf still side-lined with a knee injury, the Royals have filled the void with the emergence of freshman point guard Faith Vincent. Vincent (10.8 ppg) has led a balanced squad to an impressive start with their lone blemish coming at the hands of NICL power-house West Marshall (6-1). The Royals are the clear favorites to once again win the conference with not a single starter from last season’s state qualifying team. If Neuendorf can indeed return in the ladder part of the season, the team could be primed for a deep postseason run.

Don Bosco (7-4)

Coming off a (12-11) season, the Dons are on pace to surpass last years total by a large margin. The return of a trio of seniors including all-conference center Erin McFadden (11.0 ppg) have pushed the Dons to winning five of their final six games heading into the break. The problem is Colo-Nesco is in the conference as well. In the first head to head match-up, the Royals easily disposed of the Dons by a score of 46-29. With just one conference loss for the Dons, the fate of the Iowa Star-South could come down to the second Colo-Nesco vs Don Bosco match-up on January 15th.

North Tama (5-6)

Things haven’t gone so smoothly for the team on the north-side of the county. Coming off a (20-5) season a (5-6) start isn’t what everyone had in mind. The front-court of Abbie Schafer and Madison Howard is arguably one of the most talented duos in the conference, but yet the team results have not reflected their efforts. However, the Redhawks have proven they can hang with anyone having lost to Colo-Nesco by just six and Don Bosco by four. The team also handed a tough Janesville squad just their second loss of the season, so a second-half North Tama turnaround could be in order.

GMG (3-6)

It looked like the Wolverines were going to pick up right where their (5-4) finish to last season ended when they came out of the gate winning three of their first five. However, an up-stick in competition has seen the team drop their final four games heading into the break. The emergence of McKensie Vaske (10.2 ppg) has been a bright spot for the team going forward, already with a talented trio of juniors led by forward Blaire Sonderleiter (12.0 ppg). The team may still be a year away from true contention as they are without a single senior on the roster.

Waterloo Christian (2-8)

Lastly, the Regents once again reside in the bottom of the conference. Like last season, putting points on the board has been a serious problem for the team. The Regents are last in the conference in FG% (24.3), 3PT% (17.2), and Pts/G (31.6). Allison Mazzarella, the team’s leading returning scorer from last year, has since passed the torch onto junior Sydney Nystrom. Nystrom leads the conference in three point attempts (65) while giving her team their first double digit scorer (10.2) since Anna Doering in 2013-14.