Healthy DSC women have more depth this season

ST. GEORGE - So far this year - keep your fingers crossed - the number of Dixie State wounded does not match or exceed those on the courtThat alone is an improvement from last year.
Sure, minor pains persist for some players, but the Red Storm women's basketball team should be at full strength for its first public action of the year Saturday at 5 p.m., when the current team takes on its alumni.
"It helps a lot with morale and keeping focus in practice," said senior guard Jessie Ingraham. "It helps (boost) our intensity and helps bring new players up to our level."
Ingraham is one of three returning starters who picked up preseason Pacific West accolades; joining her were sophomore guard Shanae Vaifanua and forward Tanya Clark. Coach Angie Kristensen said the returners will face fierce competition for playing time.
That wasn't the case last year. Kristensen needed all hands on deck.
Jessica Carver graduated and opted not to pursue a medical redshirt after sitting out most of last year with an injury. Shayla Martinez (knee) and Brandi Barrett (foot) redshirted because of their ailments. Various nagging injuries cost playing time for several other regulars.
The squad was a M.A.S.H. unit.
"It was like a domino effect," Clark said. "It was really hard, but I think we made a lot of adjustments and came out successful. There were large voids, but collectively everybody filled those voids."
This year depth could carry the Red Storm a long way.
Three newcomers should step in immediately. Kristensen is particularly high on junior college transfer Na'Chelle Catron, a 6-foot forward with great presence around the hoop.
"She's unreal. When she's on, she's on," said DSC coach Angie Kristensen. "She's got a full game. You have to stay on her a little bit because she tends to coast, but when she plays hard she's probably the best player on the floor."
Veronica Siqueiros, a 5-5 point guard from College of Eastern Utah, and freshman forward Johnna Brown are expected to see time in Kristensen's deep rotation, which sometimes includes 11 or 12 players"All our returners are going to get pushed," Kristensen said. "Honestly, our new kids are very talented. The bottom line is every year you recruit better than what you have. If I'm not doing that, I'm not doing my job."The Red Storm figure to be bigger and quicker. Last year Tanya Clark led Dixie State in rebounding at 7.9 per contest - almost out of necessity.
At 5-10, Clark was sometimes the tallest Red Storm player on the floor. Not so any more.
"We're a taller team than we were last year," Clark said. "That is a definite plus."
DSC have five players 6-feet or taller, and they can run - always a prerequisite in Kristensen's attack.
"I think the team this year is very athletic," Ingraham said. "We're quick, fast and all-around good athletes. We're really long, too."
Rebounding, however, has proven to be an issue in the early going.
"We need more kids to sell out and go for the boards," Clark said. "If we have four people crashing the boards, with how big we are we should be getting rebounds, especially on the defensive end."

Women's Hoops Receive High Preseason Praise

ST. GEORGE – On Monday, the Pacific West Conference held their 2009-2010 Women’s Basketball Media Day and conference call. Dixie State College was projected to finish second in a vote of the head coaches and three returning stars for the Red Storm – Tanya Clark, Jessie Ingraham and Shanae Vaifanua – were honored with selections to the preseason all-conference team.

Dixie State had the most selections to the preseason all-conference teams with three players.

In the 2009-10 season, the Pacific West will compete with nine teams for the first time due to the additions of two Northern California schools – Dominican University in San Rafael and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. In a vote of the coaches, Dixie State College is anticipated to finish runner-up to defending conference champion Grand Canyon University out of Phoenix, Arizona. DSC received two first-place votes.

The Red Storm had the best overall record in the Pac West last year at 17-10, but finished one game back of GCU in the conference at 8-4.

The current hoops team returns six players who saw ample playing time last season including three players who earned All-Pac West honors this preseason.

Tanya Clark (Beaumont. CA/Beaumont) played most of the 2008-09 season out of position due to various injuries in the post, but excelled in her first year at Dixie State. The transfer from Arizona Western College averaged 9.2 points and 7.9 rebounds a game, third best in the entire conference. She also finished ninth in the league in foul shooting (69.1%) and ninth in field goal percentage (46.1%). Clark pulled down 13 boards twice (3/6/09 vs. GCU, 12/18/08 vs. Central Washington) and earned second-team all-Pac West accolades.

Another junior-college transfer from Arizona, Pima’s Jessie Ingraham (Tuscon. AZ/Canyon Del Oro) was the only DSC player to average more than ten points (10.9), five rebounds (5.6) and three assists (3.2) a game. The gritty point guard also had a lethal touch from beyond the arc making 41.7% of her three-pointers. She also had the third-best free throw percentage in the league, connecting on 80.5% (66 of 82) of her attempts from the line. Ingraham led the team in scoring six different times last season and had a season-high 21 points at home against BYU-Hawaii on Feb. 20. Ingraham was a conference honorable mention

Shanae Vaifanua (Hurricane. UT/Hurricane), last year’s fantastic freshman from Hurricane, scored in double figures in her first exhibition game and never looked back putting up some of the best all-around numbers in the entire conference. Vaifanua averaged 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for Dixie State. She ranked eighth in boards and 17th in scoring. She also finished 10th in shooting (45.9%) after making 106 of 231 field goal attempts, while her 1.96 steals-per-game average landed her sixth in the conference. Like Clark, Vaifanua earned second-team honors last season.
The DSC women’s team begins their 2009 exhibition season on Saturday, November 7 against an alumni squad. Tilts against Southern Utah and Weber State close out the three-game exhibition schedule.
The regular season begins November 20 against nationally-ranked Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado. Dixie State will host a Thanksgiving Tournament featuring Academy of Art, Fort Lewis and Pittsburg State on November 27th and 28th. DSC will also compete in the GNAC/Pac West Challenge in early December with games against Northwest Nazarene and Seattle Pacific.
The Red Storm kicks off conference play at home on January 7, 2010 against BYU-Hawaii.