First Week Down….

So we have official started!!!! We are now 12 practices into the season…leaving us with just 20 days till our first game. The first couple of practices we dealt with the soarness factor and now that we are past that, its just getting into tip top shape. Been working really hard this past week with getting our fundamentals down, as well as working on getting everyone comfortable with our plays. Today was our inner squad scrimmage, which was very fun to just see where we are to kind of let us know what we need to work on.

Such a good feeling to actually be running up and down the court together. Defintely a different feeling than last year. We were led by a big group of seniors and now it’s just the junior class, with a great sophomore class, as well as some awesome recruits. So we may be young, but things are going great thus far. We have a very diverse, but awesome group of girls. Very excited to see where things will go for us. As long as we stay focused and always positive, we have great potential!!

That’s it for now….until then GO DUHAWKS!!!

Mackenzie Roth #23

Our New Student-Athletes

9 days to practice!!! You’ve undoubtedly read a bit about our schedules and what our team is up to by now. Let’s start to introduce you to our team….starting with our incoming class. In numerical order with high school and hometown listed:

#21-Katelyn Fisher-Oswego High School, Oswego, IL-Freshman
Katelyn is a player than comes with one word that describes her game: potential. She is physically, a great fit for the team and the conference because she has the ability to score consistently inside or from the permiter. She will go as far as her work ethic takes her and I think individual workouts as season begins will benefit her development. Katelyn has the ability to impact our program at the “4” spot because we didn’t really have a true “4” last year. I am excited for her absolutely incredible upside and think her best basketball is coming soon!

#22-Erika Derks-Transfer from University of Dallas-Slinger High School
Erika comes to us after starting all 27 games (and half the season with mono) at Dallas as a freshman guard. She is fundamentally sound and will help us make up for the loss of Duhawk legend and current assistant coach Natalie Pucci. A two-time conference player of the year in a very strong high school league, Erika’s offensive game is sound; she has a great jump shot and can get to the rim off the dribble. She is an excellent defender and will be a major player in our success this year.

#30-Alex Schoening-Hudson-Dowling Catholic High School, Urbandale, IA-Freshman
Alex is the leader of this class. She is physically already one of the strongest athletes we have in our program and comes from a great family that rooted her work ethic and discipline. Right out of the gate, Alex will be one of our best one on one wing defenders. She has a very good three point jumper and the ability to get to the rim and finish on a consistent basis. She will fit well in our style and I expect her to make a four year name for herself in the IIAC.

#35-Katie Sharp-Marian Central Catholic High School, McHenry, IL-Freshman
Katie is a pure shooter. She comes to us hot off her senior year in high school where she shattered almost every scoring record, male or female, in Marian Central history. Katie brings with her a ton of all-conference, all-area, and player of the year accolades and will also play softball for the Duhawks this year. She is definitely benefiting from our strength workouts and as she progresses physically, her game will adapt nicely to the college game as well.

#44-Kelsey Yerkes-Marist High School, Palos Heights, IL-Freshman
Kelsey comes from one of the top programs in Illinois, Marist, and it will be very interesting to see how she impacts this team. Kelsey was a starter on a state finalist on a team that boasted two NCAA D1 players. I think she may have been overlooked in the recruiting process because she didn’t necessarily get a lot of the publicity others on her team did. She is a 5’10” athletic post that will add depth to our forward position. Defensively, she will be able to contribute right away and her personality and work ethic are everything a coach could ask for. She adds a developed mid range game with good quickness and ball handling abilities for her size.

#53-Michala Lensing-South Winneshiek High School, Calmar, IA-Sophomore
Michala will add a great dimension to our roster. I think her and returners Mindy Meyer and Makeda Queen will give us a nice combination of centers. She moves extremely well and has a good mid-range jump shot. Michala will provide a great change of pace compared to Mindy’s power game. Experience will be a priceless tool in her development and we are excited to add her to the mix!!!

There you have it…the six new faces to the Loras program. Stay tuned as things heat up on our end!

What a Great Day to be a Duhawk!

-Coach J