The 2021 women's basketball season looks a lot different than usual, but they are able to play in an unofficial, condensed season starting this month.
The season was altered to start in January instead of November because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then it was canceled. The college now has allowed the team to play a max of 10 games that won't officially count toward their record, but they're happy to be on the court again.
"It obviously has been one of the more interesting seasons since I started coaching. I really felt we had a great chance to win the regional championship this year because we had a lot of talent and high character players. But, we lost some players who transferred and a few who opted out of playing," said Head Coach Delwyn Jones, leading the team for his 21st season. "When the season reopened for this 10-game schedule, I started wondering about the players lost. However, when I saw our first practice after the start of March, I saw we still had a lot of talent."
Some of that skill comes from returning All-Region and All-Conference players Chelsea Cross (Plainfield North) and Kirsten Kamholz (Andrew), the latter also being an NJCAA All-American. The duo should be a force on offense. Briana Sanchez (Oak Lawn) also is back with her long, athletic and aggressive skills on defense; she'll do the little things to help win games.
A few freshmen will add their abilities to the roster including guards Katchie Savic (Lincoln-Way East), Jenna Ryan (Marist) and twin guards/forwards Maggie and Steffi Manthey (Sandburg). Transfer guard/forward Emily Koziol (Hinsdale South), also will contribute her shooting skills.
"We have very strong guard play and will be very hard to press. We will exhibit some pretty good shooters with the ability to get to the basket. We should be able to protect ourselves," Jones said. "The teams we play this year already have a number of games under their belt. Most have more games than we have had practices, which is a major disadvantage, but the student-athletes are just ready to play. I think we will be competitive. I'm looking forward to safely competing this spring."
No spectators are allowed, so all home games for the Cyclones will be livestreamed to youtube.com/user/MVCCMultimedia.