Tiger Basketball Set to Kick Off Season
MARSHALLTOWN, IA - The focus for the MCC women's basketball team's 2012-2013 season will be consistency and hard work. The Tigers look to improve on last year's 11-17 record and move their way to the top half of the Iowa Community College Conference standings.
"Our goal this year is to become a more consistent team," said MCC head coach Alison Lacey. "We are working daily on giving as much effort as we can on every play, each time we step on the court. We know in order to compete with DMACC and Kirkwood in our conference, that we have to work as hard as we can as a team."
The Tigers open their regular season by traveling to Grand View University taking on the Viking JV team on November 1. Grand View's varsity team is currently ranked number 8 in the NAIA Division II preseason poll, so the Tigers know that their first game will be an early challenge.
"Grand View has a great program, so we know that this will be a tough contest for us," commented Lacey. "We are just excited for our first game where the lights are on and a win or loss goes on our record."
The Tigers will look for leadership to come from sophomore returner Shana Lee (Milwaukee, WI), and sophomore transfer Mady Van Metre (Marshalltown, IA). "Shana has done a good job early during practices and Mady brings a lot of positive energy to the court" said Lacey. "We want to be respected on and off the court, and we will look to these two to help lead us. Our team should be looked at as the team that works hard and does the right thing."
With a roster of just 9 players, the Tigers will work through playing tired, and competing for a full 40 minutes. "We are going to need a lot of minutes out of our players; we are going to have to work on our physical toughness and staying out of foul trouble," said Lacey.
The Tigers will also look to the inside game of sophomore returner Latrice McMullen (Waterloo, IA). "We are confident with our size and matching up in the conference," commented Lacey. "We will need Latrice to come out and work on dominating at the post position."
Thursday's game against the Vikings is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm. The Tiger's first home game is set for November 14th when they host North Central Missouri College at the Student Activities Center. Game time for the North Central match-up is scheduled for 5:30 pm.