The MIAC women opened their 2024-2025 season; well, 9 teams did. Augsburg, Concordia and St. Mary’s will wait to play another day. So, 9 MIAC teams played 16 games, and they won 7 while losing 9. The big winners were Bethel and Gustavus, each of whom swept a pair of games. This is of course no surprise in the case of the Gusties from St. Peter, MN, and Gustavus Adolphus. They won the MIAC regular and post-season titles easily a year ago, and return most of the talent that dominated the MIAC a year ago, led by top scorer Emma Kniefel. They’re a prohibitive favorite to repeat as MIAC champions again in 2025.
Among the MIAC men, the big 4 and the big 6 teams seems almost inevitable. The “have nots” are more than just one step behind. Here, among the women, we should have a much more competitive race, well, except at the very top where Gustavus is the obvious class of the league. And, well, yes, Concordia looks solid at #2. But after that, at least 6 teams appear poised to compete for the other 4 playoff spots.
So, following is our preview of the coming regular season, plus our reports on those first 16 games over the past weekend. The conference season begins on Monday, November 25 with St. Cate’s at Bethel, and then there’s a full slate of games on Wednesday, December 4.
1. Gustavus Adolphus Gusties 25-3 last year. In addition to their 25 wins last year, the Gusties set an MIAC record with a 28 point deficit in the conference final, 66-38 over Concordia (Moorhead). And, now, the Gusties return an intimidating 8 of their top 9 scorers from last year. They include Emma Kniefel (12 ppg-4 reb-3 ast-2 stl), Rachel Kawiecki (11-4-2), Syd Hauger (11), point guard Kylie Baranick (8-3-4), Izzy Quick (7-6-2) and Morgan Kelly, the coach’s daughter (8-4-2). The cupboard is anything but bare as coach Laurie Kelly put no less than 18 players on the floor in a Sunday win at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Gustavus swept a pair of games at Eau Claire, in fact, first edging Wisconsin-LaCrosse 52-49. LaCrosse led 44-43, then shot 1-for-10 with 2 turnovers down the stretch. Kniefel led the Gusties with 14 points and added 3 boards and 2 steals. The hosts were easier pickings as the Gusties won 73-49 as Kniefel scored 24 with 5 boards. Gustavus shot 47-52-92 percent and had a 33-10 edge in points off turnovers.
2. Concordia (Moorhead) Cobbers 20-6. Runners-up last year, and expected to do about the same this year. The Cobbers return 9 of their top 10 players including the top 2 scorers Carlee Sieben (14-2-3 last year), the offensive player of the year, and Mikayla Anderson (15-8-2-2). Concordia opens its season tomorrow (Tuesday November 12) at Minnesota-Morris.
3. Bethel Royals 15-11. Bethel and coach John Herbrechtsmeyer of course return 8 of their top 9 players from a year ago, and they’ve added transfer Lydia Hay from St. Ben’s to their starting lineup, and she contributed 7 ppg-3 reb-2 asts per game as the Royals swept 2 games over the weekend down at Waverly, IA. The Royals beat Greenville 84-48 as Anna Garfield (15-4-6 stl) and Emily Erickson (15-6-3 stl) each scored 15 points. Bethel forced 33 turnovers and outscored Greenville 33-15 on points off turnovers. Then on Saturday, Bethel defeated Westminster 79-69 as Garfield again ran wild (20-6-5). Bethel had a 21-6 edge in 2nd chance points as Erickson grabbed 9 offensive boards.
4. St. Catherine’s Wildcats 19-8. Again, the Wildcats and coach of the year Don Mulhern seem poised to repeat last year’s finish, in this case at #3. Like much of the MIAC, St. Kate’s (yes, it’s St. Catherine’s and St. Kate’s for short) returns its top 5 scorers including rookie of the year Hattie Fox (14-5) and Emme Golembieski (11-4). They opened the season in California with a pair of losses to Redlands 60-46 and Chapman 75-68. Fox led the Wildcats in scoring in both games with a total of 33 points while adding 15 boards. St. Kate’s shot just 28 percent against Redlands, and against Chapman they let 4th quarter leads of 57-53 and 60-59 slip away. 4 turnovers in the final 3:49 didn’t help.
5. Macalester Scots 10-15. The Scots return one of the MIAC’s top players in 5-10 senior wing Peyton Starks who scored 18 ppg a year ago with 6 boards and 2 assists. And, she has some help, mainly in the form of 6-1 senior wing Katherine Nordquist with her line of 10-6-2. Macalester split a pair of games in St. Louis over the weekend, losing to Webster 84-71 and beating Sewanee 76-59. Starks scored 44 points with 20 rebounds in the 2 games. Nordquist scored 18 points with 22 rebounds and 5 assists. The Scots are not as deep as many of their MIAC rivals.
6. St. Scholastica Saints 10-14. The MIAC’s newest member is improving rapidly, though unfortunately they did not show it over the weekend. Still, they got their top 5 players back including Kloey Lind (12-8-2), Lexi Imdieke (10-3), and Hope Carlson (9-4). Yet the star of their 1st weekend was Ava Haus, a freshman point guard from St. Michael-Albertville, who totaled 24 points, 8 boards and 6 assists in the 2 games. They were both losses, however, 69-62 to St. Norbert and 71-53 to Wisconsin-Stout. (The MIAC web site says that St. Scholastica won this game 71-53 but trust me, Stout won by that same score.
7. Hamline Pipers 12-13. Hamline made the playoffs last year and took St. Kate’s into OT in their playoff quarter-final. But, like St. Ben’s, they’ve lost a couple of key players in Lydia Lecher and Mikaela Stamer, and in a league where almost everybody else is returning, that’s a problem. Camille Cummings, Sophie Stork and Kate Trachsel combined for 26 ppg and 10 boards last year. Now, coach Josh Hersch has brought Lauren Cooper and Anna Rynkiewich into the starting lineup, but Hamline does not have the depth that the best teams have in spades.
8. St. Olaf Oles 4-20. St. Olaf finished just 4-20 last year but looks to be improved, and so we have them in the 6th and final playoff spot. The Oles return 7 of their top 8 players though, when you go 4-20 that might not be a good thing. But, Chloe Smith, for one, can play. She averaged 10 points and 8 boards last year. Over the weekend, she led the Oles to a split of 2 games down in Iowa with 33 points and 13 boards. They went 10 deep in both games and got 45 percent of their scoring off the bench.
9. St. Benedict’s Bennies 15-11. The Bennies went 15-11 last year and upset Bethel in the playoffs 72-69. And, the Bennies return 5 key players from a year ago, though they have also lost their top 2 players, guard Carla Meyer and post Lydia Hay. Their best player may be freshman Tatum Findlay from Albany, who scored 24 points off the bench as the Bennies split their first 2 games, both at home. They opened with a 78-49 win over Minnesota-Morris as Megan Morgan went 16-and-5 and Sophia Jonas went 14-2-and 4. Then, in a 64-53 loss to UW-River Falls, Morgan went 13-and-5 while Findlay scored 15 points with 2 boards, 2 asts and 2 blocks. But in a league where almost everybody is back from last year, the loss of Meyer and Hay is a big obstacle for the Bennies.
Still, they started well enough, splitting 2 games. They lost to Wisconsin-River Falls 65-58 at St. Ben’s as Cummings came off the bench to score 17. Hamline led 47-43 after 3 quarters, but UWRF shot 70 percent and Hamline 36 percent in the 4th. (UWRF then beat St. Ben’s on the Bennies’ court 64-53. Hamline then bounced back with an easy 64-42 win over Minnesota-Morris as Trachsel and Stork each scored 14.
10. Carleton Knights 0-0. This might be something of a sentimental pick. Carleton was forced to cancel its season a year ago due to a thin roster and, then, some untimely injuries. They didn’t have enough players to have a decent practice or to expect the remaining women to play safely. Add to that the fact that Carleton’s coach is Tammy Metcalf-Filzen, a superstar coach of longstanding, and one cannot help but wish the Knights well, very well. They played and lost their first game in 21 months to Bethany Lutheran 83-65. But, at a minimum, Carleton has a sufficient roster to play a season of basketball. They went 9 deep with 8 players scoring in this game. Addy Huss and Audrey Whitney combined for 23 points and 11 boards.
11. Augsburg Augies 8-15. OK, I am heartbroken because the 2nd of my 3 favorite MIAC coaches–that’s Herbie and Tammy and Teddy Riverso–well, Teddy Riverso has retired as Augsburg coach. The fact is, however, that Augsburg’s prospects for this year were not great. Still, Ted will be very very much missed. The Augies are one of 3 MIAC teams that did not play this weekend. They open up on Wednesday, November 13 vs. Bethany Lutheran at Si Melby Hall.
12. St. Mary’s Cardinals 2-22. The Cardinals also did not play this weekend. They do not play until November 16 and 17 at Cornell and Coe, both in Iowa. They return just 3 players from last year who contributed just 10 points and 9 boards, but when you’re 2-22 some turnover is probably a good thing.
All-Conference for Week 1 (only)
Center- Katherine Nordquist, Macalester 6-1 senior 9 ppg-11 reb-2 asts
Power Forward- Chloee Smith, St. Olaf 5-11 soph 16 ppg-6 reb
Small Forward- Peyton Starks, Macalester 5-10 senior 22 ppg-10 reb
Point Guard– Anna Garfield, Bethel 5-9 grad 17 ppg-5 reb-2 ast-3 stl
Shooting Guard– Emma Kniefel, Gustavus 5-9 senior 19 ppg-4 reb
Center- Lydia Hay, Bethel 6-0 grad 7 ppg-3 reb-2 ast
Power Forward- Emily Erickson, Bethel 5-10 soph 14 ppg-9 reb
Small Forward- Izzy Quick, Gustavus 5-9 grad 7 ppg-6 reb-2 ast
Point Guard– Ava Haus, St. Scholastica 5-9 freshman 12 ppg-4 reb-3 asts
Shooting Guard– Hattie Fox, St. Kate’s 16 ppg-7 reb
