Holly Frerk | Staff Writer

Women’s Basketball is in full swing at Buena Vista University (BVU). The women’s basketball team began practice on Tuesday, October 15, 2013. With 10 returning players, one transfer, and the new addition of 12 freshmen, the women’s basketball team has a total of 23 women playing this season.

“Our athletic ability is solid and our veterans have worked really hard in the off season,” Head Coach Janet Berry said.

Senior captain Susan Kies has been playing all four years at BVU and was named honorable mention last season. While being a member of the women’s basketball team, she has played as a point guard and shooting guard.

“Practice is going really well. The freshmen that we have this year seem to be excited and really focused. They pick things up really fast and we are able to implement drills faster,” Kies said.

With a new season beginning the team aims to reach their new expectations for the new season.

Berry noted the team’s expectations for this year is to get the freshmen up and running, make it to conference tournament, always be competitive, and win as many games as the team can.

“My biggest goal for this year is to reach the conference tournament. My personal goal is to lead the conference in free-throw percentage,” Kies said.

The BVU women’s basketball team struggled in the first round of conference games last year, but they were able to turn the bad into good by going 5-2 in the second half of the conference games.

“That was a positive for us. Being able to ‘turn the ship around’ and improve our game was a big highlight for our team,” Berry said.

Another big highlight for the women’s basketball team was being able to finish the last game of year with a win.

“The biggest highlight from every season is being able to get to know all these amazing women and sharing so much with them. They practically become family after spending so much time with them, and it is such a great opportunity to be a part of it,” Kies said.

This season, Coach Berry is excited to see her two senior captains, Susan Kies and Malarie Gilley, perform along with sophomore Lexie Fisher, senior Alex Lynott, and junior Becca Pennington who has recently moved to point guard for the Beavers.

The BVU women’s basketball team will kick off their season on Friday, November 15, 2013 at the Cornell Classic where they will be taking on Clarke. The first home game will be hosted on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013 against Martin Luther at the Siebens Fieldhouse.

Graphic by Aaron Burns