Balanced attack driving Wesleyan forward - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Game Notes

As the Great Lakes Valley Conference settles into the homestretch of the 2010-11 women's basketball season, few teams are as focused and refreshed as Kentucky Wesleyan College.

The Panthers, under the direction of first-year co-head coaches Caleb Nieman and Nicole Nieman, already have qualified for the postseason league tournament and are considered one of the most improved teams in the always-competitive GLVC.

And KWC has succeeded in rather unconventional fashion -- playing anyone and everyone in the program a significant number of minutes virtually every game.

"It takes a special kind of team to buy into that kind of philosophy, but our players have done it," Caleb Nieman said. "When we were evaluating our roster in the preseason, we came to the conclusion that the talent level is pretty equal across the board.

"The kids we're most proud of are the older players. They've been good leaders, and they understand the philosophy. I think they realize that over the course of the season being so balanced has made us a better team."

Case in point: In Kentucky Wesleyan's 77-74 victory at Maryville on Sunday, all 11 Panthers logged double-digit minutes -- and all 11 scored.

Only two KWC players reached the double-digit scoring column -- lone senior Amanda Harnist (15) and junior Katie Behrens (10) -- but Lauren Goffinet, Shelbi Tyra and Kristen Rowe each produced nine points, and four others scored five or more.

"It's hard for our opponents to key on any one player because of our balance," Nieman said. "You don't really see too many teams like ours in that regard.

"What makes us even more effective from an offensive standpoint is the unselfish nature of our players, their willingness to share the basketball and give up a good shot for a great shot."

Nieman said the team's defensive pressure also has improved as the season has progressed.

"The ability to keep fresh players on the court when you're pressing helps a lot," he said. "Late in the season here, we've noticed teams really struggling to get their breath in late-game timeouts. Our depth has really worked to our advantage when we've pressed."

KWC still has work to do, however, to become the well-rounded program the Niemans envision.

"We need to learn to deal with the physical nature of the game better than we've shown," Nieman said. "Some of that has to do with being such a young team, but it's an area where we can definitely make strides."

Nieman said the Panthers badly want to succeed, and it's reflected in the team's record. Entering Thursday's game at Northern Kentucky, KWC is 13-8 overall and 7-7 in the GLVC. Last year, Wesleyan was 12-16 in all games, 5-13 in league play and failed to qualify for the conference tournament.

"We definitely have a group of fighters," Nieman said. "We're not yet where we'd like to be from a physical standpoint, but our mental approach is very good.

"These ladies step on the court every game now believing that they can win. It's fun to be around a group like that -- we're having a lot of fun."

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