Lancers Win Seventh Straight Game

BY SCOTT MORRISON

Just a few short weeks ago the Mount Marty College Lady Lancers had lost three of their last four games and, at 2-7 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, things were looking down.

Now, with their 83-61 victory over Midland Lutheran College on Saturday, the Lancers are winners of seven straight games and back on track.

“Obviously we are excited and (our streak) is good. Our girls are good at keeping things in perspective so they can move forward,” Iverson said.

With only two games remaining in the regular season, the Lancers (15-10, 9-7 GPAC) could not have picked a better time in which to get hot.

During their recent winning steak the Lady Lancers have not only found their way back in the GPAC hunt, but now have aspirations for a return to the NAIA National Tournament.

Starting with their 74-64 win over Dakota Wesleyan University on January 26, the Lancers have clamped down on defense and have limited their opponents to 58.8 points per game during the streak.

This number is an improvement over their 66.8 points per game average so far this season.

“We have gotten more confident as the streak has gone on. This is a natural tendency when a team is performing well,” Iverson said

Yet on the offensive side, it has been a different girl each night who has stepped up for the Lancers.

Against DWU junior guard Katelynn Kunz scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Senior shooting guard Emily Witte shot 3-for-3 free beyond the three point arc for 16 points against the University of Sioux Falls in a 75-59 win.

Senior point guar Tevan Wenbourne went 9-for-13 from the free-throw line in a 77-54 win against Dana College.

Wenbourne leads all defenders in the GPAC with 3.20 steals per game.

“Though Tevan isn’t scoring as much as she did last season, she is still contributing in other ways. This is seen on offense where she continues to create open looks for other players,” Iverson said.

Junior forward Amber Marsden has made an impact on the Lancers recent success from a point production standpoint.

Among the leading scrorers during the streak, Marsden scored in double figures in five out of the seven games. She is averaging 13.1 points a game in the streak.

Coach Iverson believes that Marsden’s success is yet another example of contributions that are apparent up and down the roster.

“Contributions from people coming off the bench has helped us tremendously. Each player brings different positive things to the table,” Iverson said.

In their most recent victory against Midland Lutheran, sophomore guard Michelle Amundson (11.4 ppg) scored a game high 16 points.

Amundson shot 6-for-6 from the field in just 15 minutes; this including a 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Amundson, who is second in the GPAC with a 50.8 three point percentage, provides the Lancers with a tremendous outside threat who can penetrate when necessary.

“Michelle is a very good basketball player. She is shooting very well and when she gets an open look she is going to knock it down,” Iverson said.

With the return of senior forward Carrie Ahlers from injury, the Lancers look to have everything in the right direction.

With their last two conference games against USF (5-11) and Doane College (9-7 GPAC) still remaining on the schedule, the Lancers will look to finish out their season continuing their streak.

“We need to keep rolling and improving from one game to the next. We can’t look to far back in the past just like we can’t look to forward in the future,” Iverson added.

The Lancers play host to USF on Wednesday, February 20 at 6:00 p.m..

“Every time that we play USF our team expects a rivalry type game. We defeated them at home and we expect they will be looking to return the favor,” Iverson said.

They finish the regular season at home on Saturday against Doane College at 2:00 p.m.