Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Martin Luther University’s Lauren Paulsen takes a shot in the lane during a non-conference women’s basketball game against Augsburg on Dec. 16 at MLC.
NEW ULM — Currently on Christmas break, the Martin Luther College Knights women’s basketball team can relax a little and enjoy the program’s best start to a season in more than a decade.
The 6-2 Knights won five or more games before the Christmas break for the first time since the 2011-12 season. That season, the Knights went into the hiatus at 5-5 and finished the rest of their schedule dominating, winning the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament and advancing to NCAA DIII, where the late Larry Czar was the team’s leader. They secured a spot in the women’s basketball tournament. head coach.
The Knights lost to St. Thomas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season 20-6, but this was the first and only time an MLC women’s team appeared in that tournament.
Although this year’s women’s team is far from finalizing plans for the NCAA Tournament, a strong start to the season like this is something Knights fans, coaches and players have been waiting for for a long time.
“First of all, I’m proud of the women.” MLC head coach Dan Gawlish said. “Our players come to practice every day and push each other up, and you can see that paying off. Going back to my senior year, not only their practice effort, but their competitive mindset. We’ve seen a noticeable change. We’ve now switched to a winning mindset, which is huge. Whether it’s winning games or not, our time here is a success for the program. They will learn.”
Gawlisch, currently in his 10th season as the team’s head coach, has been through some tough seasons over the past decade and knows not to get ahead of himself.
“We have to take it one play at a time, one game at a time.” Gawlish said. “In any game, or throughout a long sports season, things can change quickly based on momentum. It’s fun to look back and see what we did before Christmas, but the conference It won’t start until it finishes.
“I told the team this before the season, but the UMAC conference this year seems to have gotten more competitive overall since I started coaching. There have certainly been some years where it has been more competitive. We’ve had some great teams, but this year is more competitive than ever. It comes down to which teams will continue to grow throughout the season, and which teams will continue to bring energy into January and February. It will happen.”
Gawlisch isn’t thinking too far ahead, but that doesn’t take away from the extra smiles he’s been able to have with the coaching staff (Todd Schuch, Sarah Strobel) and players so far this season.
“Given everything we’ve seen from our players so far, we need to be part of that conversation and think about those things and what we can do and start setting goals like that. I have no hesitation in saying that.” Gawlish said. “But to achieve that, you have to work hard every day and stay focused on the present.”
The Knights also have student manager Ella Hunter, a 2024 Minnesota Valley Lutheran graduate, assisting on the sideline after being off the court this year due to injury.
But on the court, the Knights are led by seniors Emma (Nelson) Dorn, Lauren Paulsen and Grace Kieselhorst.
Dawn, a fifth-year senior forward and 2020 MVL graduate, is averaging 12.3 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game. The 5-10 forward said it was exciting to get off to this hot start, but he aligned himself with the head coach’s game-at-a-time approach.
“It’s exciting.” Dorn said after the Knights’ home win over Augsburg on Dec. 16. “Again, we have to take it one game at a time, but I still feel like this is one of the best teams I’ve ever been on. With them. It was really fun to play. I think we’ll have a really good chance this year, but we just have to take it one game at a time.”
Poulsen averages 7.1 points per game, fifth on the team, but she is more known for her defensive ability, finishing as a defensive all-conference player last season.
Kieselhorst is averaging 7.9 ppg.
For the Knights, Lydia Feit continues to contribute with nine points this season in her third year.
Part of the Knights’ success can also be attributed to a newcomer on the block, point guard Mya Morris. Morris, a sophomore who played for the Crowns last year and transferred to MLC this year, leads the team in scoring with 13.6 ppg while adding 4.8 rpg and 2.4 assists per game.
“She leans on her experience, but she’s been very coachable in terms of working with our system and finding her shots within our system and among her teammates.” Gawlish said of Morris: “(Against Augsburg on December 16) was a good example. Maia’s shots didn’t hit her and we didn’t get as many goals as we usually do. I would say we didn’t do very well, but we’re deep and we have a lot of guys who can go. Whether it’s 20 points or four points, she does a lot of things: control the ball, control the pace of play, effort defensively. are doing.
“We have the speed so we can press her and other guys off the bench as well. It was great to have Mia and obviously she’s a good ball handler and shooter so that’s a good thing. Strengthen our defense and everyone else We can look for those posts and get cuts. Grace and Lauren can hit more drives, and it opens up more opportunities for offensive rebounds for Lydia. That was really good.”
The Knights also have 5-11 freshman forward Eva Stein making a difference in the post with 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds off the bench so far.
It remains to be seen how the Knights will handle the tough UMAC schedule after the break, but they will likely play two more non-conference games to get back on track before conference play begins. First, the Knights will travel to St. Paul to take on Hamline University on Dec. 31 at 3 p.m., then head to Northfield to take on St. Olaf College on Jan. 1 of the new year at 3 p.m.
They will then begin UMAC play at Minnesota Morris on January 8 at 7:15 p.m. before traveling to Crown for a UMAC match on January 11 at 4:45 p.m. MLC’s first home UMAC game will be Jan. 15 at 7:15 p.m. against the Northwestern University Eagles.
REDWOOD FALLS — The New Ulm Area varsity wrestling team, the Eagles, placed third out of 34 teams on Saturday.
NEW ULM — The New Ulm Eagles defeated New Prague 4-0 in a nonconference girls hockey game Saturday in New Ulm.
