Viking women’s basketball starts season on top
Coach Dave Krauth expecting big things from 2007-08 season, at loss for surprise success

By Corey Hermanson

Mirror Staff Writer
November 30, 2007

Women’s basketball coach Dave Krauth will take what the Vikings are giving him, even if he cannot quite put his finger on the reason for the team’s impressive 6-1 start.

“It’s been good individual play; junior Whitney Hofer’s play was very good over our first couple weekends in California and at Concordia in St. Paul,” Krauth said.

Krauth said the team members are highly motivated.

“Junior Amy Puthoff was the MVP of the Tip Off Classic in California. We’ve had good individual performances at times; it has given me the feeling that we’ve been hanging on a lot in our games.”

The young Vikings team will be looking for major contribution from its three veteran leaders: Puthoff, Hofer and Ashley Holiday. In each of the seven games, the trio combined to lead the Vikings in points and rebounds.

“With the team we have, [Hofer and Puthoff] are key for us,” Krauth said. “We need them to score and give us some of the other positive stats that you would expect from your veteran players.”

Puthoff is averaging 13.3 points and 4.7 rebounds, program while Hofer is scoring 12.4 points and cleaning up the boards with 9.1 rebounds per game.

Hofer recently earned the first North Central Conference (NCC) Player of the Week award Nov. 19, while averaging 16.5 points and 13.5 rebounds.

The Vikings defeated Northern Michigan 67-57 and Missouri Valley 89-62 at the Wildwood Lodge Tip Off Classic in St. Paul, Minn.

Krauth expects Holiday, the second-leading scorer in 2006-07 (12.5 ppg), to play a key role in the Vikings’ postseason. The center from Hayti, S.D. is averaging 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

“Ashley Holiday is our only senior and she will be key,” Krauth said. “We need her to keep herself on the floor and out of foul trouble. She is the veteran player on the team and has the talent to be with the other two.”

Freshmen 5’5” guard Molly Hayes and 5’10” forward Liz Helsper have immediately injected their youth into the starting lineup.

Hayes leads the team with five assists per game in addition to 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds. Helsper is averaging 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds.

“I’m learning about this team as we go along; we have a lot of young players getting their first taste of college basketball,” Krauth said.

Raising the team field goal percentage from 41.7 percent is the main improvement Krauth would like to see from the Vikings.

“Basketball can be a simple game; we just need to make some shots,” Krauth said. “That’s the one area where I want us to see a little more consistency. You’ve got to have some success to breed confidence.”

The Vikings defeated Lincoln University 61-40 Saturday to finish 2-0 at the UNO Classic in Omaha. Puthoff tallied 12 points on four three-pointers.

Holiday collected her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Hayes and Hofer each scored seven points, and sophomore Kayla Henke added six points and 10 rebounds off the bench.