Goals Accomplished, New Ones Needed

The Northland College LumberJills Women’s Basketball team completed the 2006-07 season by reaching or exceeding all expectations and goals they had for the season. It was an incredible year for the Jill's. Coming into the season they wanted to prove their goal of building a championship program was right on schedule. They had laid the foundation the previous year – hard work, basketball knowledge, energy and enthusiasm, team chemistry. Could they take the next step and build upwards in the conference? Could they become a playoff team?

The answer was a resounding “Yes!” Not only did the Jill's qualify for the playoffs, they battled for a conference championship right up through the final weekend of the season. And if it wasn’t for a buzzer beater shot that sent the Jill's to a two-point loss that last weekend, they would have shared the title. Not bad for a team where 11 of the 13 players were either freshmen or sophomores, and for a team that lost their leading scorer only seven games into the season.

The season overview shows the young Jills needed some time to put it all together, but once they did, they could play with anyone. Two early season overtime wins shed some light on the potential of the team and boosted the players confidence.  A close loss to Division II Michigan Tech proved to the team that they could play with excellent teams, and a big road victory over a first-place team provided the momentum for the Jill's.

The Jill's won 9 of 12 games during that stretch, and finished winning 13 of their last 18 games against Division III teams, only losing games to the other three top teams in the conference.  The team created an exciting atmosphere around campus. Crowds grew tremendously as the Jill's found themselves playing in critical game after critical game. The team kept making plays to pull out victory after victory until they truly were one of the best teams in the conference at the end of the season, defeating the top team in the conference in the last weekend to tie for the conference lead before the two-point loss to another first-place team the following day. The team found themselves earning second-place in the UMAC, finishing 10-4, just one game behind the conference champion. The Jill's made the playoffs after a one-year hiatus, and competed very well, losing in a close contest to the eventual champion.

The Jill's team success was indicated in the rewards the Jills received at the end of the season. Freshmen Lindsey Hamm and Chelsea Lundgren were the only two freshmen in the league on the All-Conference Team and the Jill's added a third member as junior Evelyn Hoosier was named Honorable Mention. Lundgren was also placed on the All-Defensive Team and she was named the first recipient ever for the Newcomer of the Year Award.




In addition, Head Coach Dan Roiger was named the UMAC Coach of the Year. Roiger had taken a talented but inexperienced and young group and molded them into an excellent team by the end of the season. A team that was picked in a pre-season poll to finish in 7^th place nearly won the conference championship!  It was the second year that Roiger had led the Jill's to the playoffs in his three years. More importantly, he has taken a program that was low in numbers, athleticism, size, and commitment, and turned it into a promising program that has an exciting future, a team filled with athletic, instinctive, and talented players.

Where do the Jill's go from here? Talk to the players and the coaches, and as exciting as the season was, they want more. Getting close to a conference championship was fun, but it also showed them how close they are and left them hungry. They want to take that next step and start competing for conference championships. The coaching staff wants to add a few key pieces through recruitment and player development, and the players want to improve their individual skills while maintaining the awesome team chemistry that led to such an outstanding season.

This past year the Jills wanted to see if their progress was on schedule by making the conference playoffs.  Not only did they make it, they nearly won the title outright.  They need some new goals to shoot for next season.  Based on the recent success with such a young squad, the Jills are hoping that a conference championship is within their grasp!