Omaha Nebraska

Omaha, NE- The Dixie State women’s basketball team visited the 3rd grade classrooms at Central Park Elementary School in Omaha, NE. They spent the morning reading and doing crafts with the students of Ms. Larson’s and Ms. Pederson’s classrooms. “It was a great opportunity for our student-athletes to work with students from a different socio-economic background. The students seemed to really respond to our girls,” stated Coach Kristensen. The 3rd grade students were then able to eat lunch with the girls and finished the visit with questions about athletics and college. “At Central Park they put a big emphasis on going to college and having goals. I thought it was great that we were able to provide them with some answers on how to get there and hopefully serve as role models,” says Coach Kristensen.

Bulldogs stand out to play for Dixie

Johnna Brown drew plenty of recruiting interest to play Division I softball or basketball.
But the Centennial senior signed with Division II Dixie State in order to play both.
"It's going to be exciting to see how it turns out," Brown said. "A lot of coaches didn't want to work with me to play two (sports)."
Brown will be joined in women's basketball at Dixie State by Centennial teammates Deanna Daniels and Rashawnda Gray, who also signed with the Rebels during the early signing period (Nov. 12 to 19).
"We were fortunate to get (Brown) because she could have played Division I basketball," said Dixie State coach Angela Kristensen, who envisions the 6-foot Brown playing small forward. "She'll be one of those special kids. It's tough to be an impact player as a freshman, but Johnna has the potential to do that."
At Centennial, Brown is a starting outside hitter in volleyball, forward in basketball and shortstop in softball. She was an all-state selection in basketball and softball as a junior.
"Johnna wanted to go and do multiple sports," Bulldogs basketball coach Karen Weitz said. "(Dixie State) was kind of the window of opportunity for her."
Brown was close to scheduling a visit to Florida State for softball but finally sided with Dixie State to play two sports.
Overlap of schedules will be a hurdle with the Rebels. Dixie State's basketball season ends in March, and softball begins in February.
"The two (Dixie State) coaches talked, and they said, 'We would work it out,' " Brown said.
The Centennial basketball team has attended summer camps on the Dixie State campus, which turned out to be a key to the Bulldogs trio signing with the St. George, Utah, school.
"We'd mess around and say, 'If the three of us go here, that'd be pretty cool,' " Brown said.
Daniels, a power forward, attracted Division I interest from schools including UC Irvine, Weitz said. Gray, a wing who is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, took a visit to San Diego.
But the chance for the trio to play together in Division II apparently was more appealing than playing separately in Division I.

Updates

I realized this week that I haven’t done a very good job of updating this blog – so I am going to try and play catch up. So far it has been filled with a season of some highs and lows but still I am overall very happy with the girls.

We started off with two games in southern California playing San Bernardino and UC San Diego – two teams who made the national tournament last year. We didn’t play very well against Bernardino and ended up losing 62-57. I felt that was a game we could have very easily won, but didn’t play up to our potential. Then we traveled to San Diego a team that starts five girls above 6’0. They also played in the national tournament last year. We battled with them the entire game, got down in the second half by 13 – but came back to tie it. We ran out of gas and came up short and had to foul in the end. Final score was 71-61. I feel this team will be a top team in our region and felt like we were right there – so I took some positives from the weekend even though we went 0-2.

The next weekend we were again on the road at Chico State! We played the host school first and they hadn’t lost a game in 24 home game win streak, which was huge. Chico made the national tournament last year as well and were picked this year to win the CCAA. I was so proud of our girls as we played well. It was a bitter sweet victory though because we lost, Jessica Carver to a season ending knee injury. That is the fourth player from last year’s starting squad that is missing from this team - talk about adversity! Saturday we played Sonoma State – another team that made the national tournament last year. It was a back and forth game, but we just didn’t have enough gas and lost 70-63. This puts us at 1-3.

This past weekend we got to go back to the Midwest. Two of our seniors and Coach Larson are from Iowa (Lindsey Chettinger and Courtney Boyd) along with myself being from South Dakota. We spent Thanksgiving at the Chettinger’s and ate more food than you can possibly imagine! We pretty much ate Iowa right off the map! Saturday we played University of South Dakota – who was National Champion Runner’s up last year at NCAA DII. This year they made the jump to Division I. With four minutes to play in the game we were all tied up – then we only score one point in the final minutes. We had good looks they just didn’t fall and lost 80-62.

Monday we traveled to College of Saint Mary, which is the college that I coached at before coming to Dixie State. We won that game by a score of 100-67. It was a great game for some of our younger girls to get some minutes.

That puts us at 2-4 but we have had a pretty challenging schedule up to this point. We FINALLY have home games this weekend when we host our tournament.

We have had some bad luck with injuries but that is a part of the game. We just have to try different things to get the job done and they are responding well. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and we appreciate your support!

Dixie State Women’s Basketball Signs Two Vegas Prep Players to National Letters of Intent During Early Signing Period

(ST. GEORGE, Utah – November 18, 2008) – Dixie State College of Utah head women’s basketball coach Angela Kristensen announced Tuesday the signing of two players to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period. Both signees, Deanna Daniels, a 5-11 guard/forward, and Rashawnda Gray, a 5-8 guard, are seniors at Las Vegas’ Centennial High School, and have committed to play at DSC in the upcoming 2009-10 season.“Both of these student-athletes are tremendous leaders both on and off the court and we look for them to make an immediate impact for us next season,” Coach Kristensen said. “They’ve both been coached by one of the most successful prep coaches in the country in Karen Weitz, so they are well prepared to play at the collegiate level. With both of these players receiving interest from a number of Division-I schools, we feel very fortunate that they chose to come to Dixie State.”Daniels, who is a three-time all-division and 2007 first-team all-state performer, has helped lead the Bulldogs to an 85-12 overall record, three-straight division titles, one region title and a state runner-up finish in her first three years of play. She averaged nearly a double-double as a junior at 14.0 points and 9.1 rebounds a game, along with 3.8 steals and 2.5 assists per outing. Daniels has also got the job done in the classroom as she has been listed on the honor roll all three years and was named Scholar Athlete as a sophomore.“Deanna has an unbelievable knack for the ball,” Kristensen noted. “She is a tenacious rebounder with very long arms and has a lot of upside as she continues to develop her perimeter skills.”Gray is a three-year letterwinner who got her first chance to start as a junior last season. She responded by averaging 9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals at the off-guard position. “Rashawnda is a strong, athletic guard with a quick first step and has the ability to finish around the basket,” Kristensen said. “She is also a consistent shooter from the outside, so we look for her to be able to score a number of different ways.”

Underway By: Coach K

We have been at this now since the day after Labor Day – conditioning, weights, study hall, and classes and now it is officially started! We had 2 weeks of practice before hitting the hardwood for our first exhibition game over the weekend. I have been nothing less than impressed with this group of ladies we have that make up this team. They come to practice every day wanting to get better and giving me everything they have! I respect them for that and hopefully it will all pay off.

We played Southern Utah University this past Saturday evening. Exhibition games are always funny because you never really know what to expect. I like them because win or lose it gives the coaching staff a feel of where you are and what you have to do in order to get better. I feel that each player this year can give us something and that is what I am most proud of!

We didn’t shoot it very well (29% to be exact) but we made up for it in different areas. We had 22 offensive boards to their 7 and that gave us an opportunity to shoot it 14 more times. That might have been the difference in the ball game. They also shoot it from the free throw line better than their coach EVER did in college. I won’t even tell you what my overall percentage but we were 18 of 21 from the charity stripe – which is great!

The win was bittersweet because at the time of the game Southern Utah’s coach, Steve Hudson, was at home battling cancer and he just passed away earlier this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. We enjoyed the games we played against him and his teams and respect so much what he did for basketball in southern Utah!

We learned a lot about this team and our strengths and weaknesses! We hope we can do better as we head up to play Utah State on Friday and BYU on Saturday! Two weeks until the season officially kicks off!

Looking from the Outside In By: Lexe Jacobs

Where to begin! Last year I was recruited to come to play here at Dixie State by Coach K and Coach Larson. I committed, signed and before I knew it I was down in St. George getting ready for the season to start! Through out the summer and preseason I had been working so hard, I was determined to get some playing time. Preseason was a blast! Well, kinda... Early morning conditioning, weights, and pick-up all in one day was exhausting. Getting to know the girls and hangin out with them was awesome! I loved it. Preseason soon came to an end and we were stoked for the games to begin. I personally started off playing well and was playing with the team. That slowly went down hill; having a history of back problems was taking its toll and slowing me down. Sitting at the end of the bench wasn't exactly what I had expected, as well as the coaches. It was like I made a complete U turn. But the season was ending soon and I was determined to get my back ready and my self in shape for the next season! Little did I know the last game of the season would be the last game of my career.
Now that basketball is only something I watch and not physically be a part of, I wish I could go back. There are so many things I would change and do different with basketball. I wish I would have worked out the days I was too lazy and wasn't in the mood, I wish I would have stayed that extra half hour after practice to work on my shot. So many others; but mostly, I wish I would have realized how little time I had left. I took so many things for granted. So I guess the moral of my story is play and practice like its your last, because you really never know when it all comes to a halting screech. Do what you love and love what you do; don't waste your time!

CJ Miles Comes to Dixie!

The Dixie State Women's Basketball Team conducted a youth clinic this fall. Utah Jazz guard, CJ Miles, came down and volunteered his time for the clinic. It was for area youth ages K-8th grade. CJ and the girls did a great job and enjoyed the opportunity to work with kids in the community! I am not sure who got more out of the clinic - the kids or our girls as CJ taught them all a lot!


CJ Miles with the basketball team


Brandi with a participant from the camp



CJ Miles with the kids!