Women’s basketball team starts off strong

The UW-River Falls women’s basketball team started off the season on a hot streak, going 4-0, winning all the games in the comfort of the Karges gymnasium.

The Falcons are also 1-0 in the WIAC.

The Falcons beat the UW-Superior Yellowjackets 75-33 in their first conference game Wednesday night at Karges. Three different Falcons scored points in the double-digits, leading the team to a huge conference victory.

Senior Chantele Melgaard scored 16 points; while seniors Melanie Preiner and Krista Cordes finished the game with 11.

In the past week and a half, the Falcons played three other games. On Sunday, the Falcons took on St. Thomas and senior Megan Lindman scored a career-high 27 points and picked up six rebounds to lead the Falcons to the 58-48 win.

Lindman’s previous career-high point total was 20.

She said that during the game she had no idea she was going to break her career high, and even afterwards, she didn’t know how many points by which she beat it.

Fellow senior, Preiner added 13 points in the game against St. Thomas.

On Saturday, the Falcons hosted Minnesota rival Augsburg and dominated the game, doubling up on the visiting team with a final score of 80-40.

Senior Traci Reimann had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Lindman contributed 12 points.

On Nov. 21, the Falcons opened the season against Hamline University, dominating the first half and going on to win 76-51. Freshman Kelsie Flanscha scored 15 points and Melgaard returned after taking last season off.

Head coach Cindy Hovet thought the first three games have gone very well.

“I thought we played well,” Hovet said. “Everybody got some minutes.”

This season, the Falcons are led by a core group of seniors including Krista Cordes, Melgaard, Preiner and Reimann. Junior Kim Sorenson will also be a key member of the Falcons’ success this season.

The Falcons only lost one senior from last year’s team and gained Melgaard back as a member of the squad. The younger players on the team are going to be able to look to this core group.

While there are a number of older players, Lindman said that the team will be very deep. In fact, she said the players on the bench will be just as important as their starting squad.

There is not going to be any easy opponent for the Falcons this season, especially in the conference.

“Every conference game is a huge game,” Hovet said. “We can’t overlook anyone in conference.”

UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout were picked to be the top two teams in the WIAC.

Expectations are high for the Falcons this season and the team will not be happy with anything less than the way it’s playing right now.

“We have a very good basketball team,” Hovet said. “I hope people on campus and in the community come out and see us play. It’s going to be a treat.”

Although the conference game this weekend will be tough, Hovet said the team will not prep for it any differently than the games they’ve already had.

On Saturday, the Falcons host Stevens Point for a 5 p.m. match-up at Karges.