Each year we invite a handful of men’s and women’s basketball players to provide us with insight on their season as it unfolds. This year we have a very interesting mix that covers a wide range of the Division III landscape. Let’s meet the first Insider who would like to finish her season right where it’s starting.

Kicking Off Titan Basketball Season

Hello fans, I am Holly Harvey and I am a junior guard on the Illinois Wesleyan Women’s Basketball Team. Wesleyan is located in Bloomington, IL just down the road from Illinois State University. There are many things about IWU that drew me to the school as a high school senior, such as its great academic reputation, nice campus, strong athletics, and overall positive atmosphere. The women’s basketball program made my college choice easy. The team dynamic was awesome, everyone got along well and I saw myself fitting right in. I stayed to play pick-up with the team and quickly learned that every player had passion for the game, a desire to win, and team mentality. I also found it easy to communicate with Coach Smith and was impressed with some of her coaching strategies that she shared.

I believe that the team characteristics I first noticed on my visit are major reasons for IWU Women’s Basketball’s recent success. Last year we finished with the impressive record of 30-1, however we didn’t reach our ultimate goals of the Final Four and a National Championship. This year is special because Illinois Wesleyan is the host of the Women’s Basketball Final Four. Nothing compares to playing at the Shirk Center in front of the home crowd. Everyone on the team is dreaming of playing in the national championship on our home court and we are working hard to fulfill that goal. However, before we look ahead to the NCAA Tournament, there are other goals that will need to be met before that.

We will be hosting The Tip Off Tournament which includes Washington University, DePauw University, and Central College. We won the tournament last year and are looking for a repeat this year. Following the tournament, we have a more challenging pre-conference schedule than previous years. We are hoping that the tougher competition will prepare us for conference play and the post season. Our goal is to repeat as the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champions.

We have been working hard this pre-season to reach our season goals. Our practices have been competitive and we have been improving along the way. We had a scrimmage against Illinois Central College early in the pre-season. We saw a lot of good things at the scrimmage. Our defense looked very solid, especially our 2-3 zone. Offensively we pushed the ball up and got some good looks in transition. We also saw a number of good things from our freshman class.

We just had an exhibition game with Division I 17th ranked DePaul University. Though the outcome did not go as well as planned, as we lost 93-49, I believe it was a tremendous learning experience for the team. We watched film the very next morning and pin pointed some of our weaknesses in the game such as getting open on the wing, defensive rotations, and the transition game. We hit the floor after film and worked on those weaknesses and had a very productive practice. We all agreed that we never wanted to lose by 40 again and put the game behind us. We are now looking forward to starting the season with our first game at home against Blackburn College on November 17th at 7 P.M.