Brooke Panzer is the only freshman who starts for Simpson, but the Storm bring several more freshmen off the bench. Simpson athletics photo

Brian Niemuth has seen plenty of freshmen come through the women's basketball ranks at Simpson since 1987. But to have 10 of the top 15 as freshmen? That's something new for the veteran coach. Even with the youth movement, the freshmen have been winning quite a bit as the Storm are 16-1 after Monday's 58-56 victory over Coe.

"I'm pleasantly surprised," Niemuth said. "They were a talented group coming in, but it can be scary to count on freshmen to get you victories."

Against Coe on Monday, the bench consisting of all freshmen chipped in 20 points off the bench, including eight points by Maddie Bosworth and six from Maddie Muhlenbruck. If you add the six by starter Brooke Panzer, nearly half of all of the points scored by the Storm came from freshmen.

"They were able to step up and get it done," Niemuth said.

Besides the four that significantly contributed to the Coe win, the Storm also have Whitney Van Wyk, Megan Lankford, Morgan Mauro, MacKenzie Haupt, Rachel Sage, Payton Mellman and Annie Gullickson.

"They had a lot of experience coming in from playing AAU and knowing each other by playing against one another. It's helped."

Niemuth didn't feel as he could get as complex with teaching the team certain schemes, but that has not been the case.

"They have a high basketball IQ," Niemuth said. "I was going to dummy it down with so many freshmen, but I've put in a lot more than I thought I could do. I'm very confident in what they can do. They surprise every game."

What has helped as well is the seniors’ ability to take the freshmen under their wings. Four of five starters are seniors and they all have roles in helping the youngsters learn at a more rapid pace.

"Kelsie Reeves, our point guard is our vocal leader," Niemuth said. "Nicole Crisp, our shooting guard from New Mexico, takes care of kids that are other out-of-staters. Chelsie Rorhs, our small forward, is an organizer who makes sure everybody knows where they’re supposed to be, and Kate Nielsen is the leader by example."

Those help by the seniors along with the growth of the freshmen makes Niemuth think that's the first year of college is just a term only for these young athletes.

"I told them at semester break, they are no longer freshmen," Niemuth said. "They haven't played like freshmen. What they have gained is confidence. They come to practice wanting to get better and getting more confidence knowing they can compete at this level."

For the past year and a half Niemuth was the assistant athletic director at Simspon. As of Monday, he is now interim athletic director.

"I've got a lot on my plate right now."

He said he's not sure how he will juggle the two but is going to try and be as proficient at both as possible.

"I'm going to find out," Niemuth said. "Basketball during the season would be a priority. From a basketball and administrative standpoint, I think we will be fine. I'm not ready to give up basketball yet. If I can focus and do well I would stay with that, if one is suffering I would probably stay with basketball."

Bench comes up big for North Central

Despite having injuries and illness for part of the season, the North Central men's basketball team is still winning games as it has a 16-1 record.

"We've had our struggles," Cardinals coach Todd Raridon said. "Within our struggles, we have won the games despite our injuries. It's not a well-oiled machine but they are playing hard. The kids are holding together and hopefully we'll have everyone at full strength against everyone a second time through in the conference."

Four of the five starters for North Central at some time have been out. Leading scorer Landon Gamble (14.2 points per game) has been out with a sprained ankle; second leading scorer Derek Raridon (13.1) has been battling a shoulder injury; third-leading scorer Aaron Tiknis has had knee ailments (11 points per game) and sixth-leading scorer Brandon Williams (5.9 points per game) has been sick with flu-like symptoms.

Coach Raridon has seen significant contributions from Pat Rourke, Jack Burchett and Charlie Rosenberg in his starters' absence. All of the starters were back and healthy for Wednesday's loss at No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan.

"We've been fortunate that these three kids have stepped up and kept the ship afloat," Raridon said. "It's great to see."

 He's also had to rely on the non-starters due to fact the Redbirds generally run a 7-8 man rotation. In the long run, Raridon knows it will make his bench deeper and stronger when he may need to insert someone in the stretch run.

"I'm hoping it'll help us immensely from a confidence standpoint with them playing a bigger role for us," Rairdon said. "It can only help their confidence and for them to grow. When their number is called off the bench I feel they probably can give us even better minutes than before."