Lancers Need To “Relax” Says Coach
WINONA LAKE – Relax.
That’s what a lot of us are doing during the Christmas break.
That’s also just what Grace College women’s basketball coach Scott Blum would like to see his talented team do on the hardwood.
The Lancers, who are in the midst of a 15-day break between games, sits at 7-7 overall and 0-3 in Crossroads League play.
“We’ve really tried to focus on just relaxing and playing the game,” said Blum Tuesday night during a phone interview. “I want our girls to just relax and take the shots when they are there. We’re 7-7, but have lost four close games we could have won. We could easily be 11-3 right now.
“We’ve been up and down so far this season. But, I think a big thing is that we are putting too much pressure on ourselves and maybe we put too high of expectations on ourselves at the start of the season. When you look at it, we really have very inexperienced guards.”
The Lancers, who went 17-18 overall and 12-6 in league play last season, started off the year 5-0. Grace has lost five of its last six games, including setbacks to Taylor (56-52), Indiana Wesleyan (66-43) and Goshen (59-57) in Crossroads League play.
Blum, who was a star player at Grace, admits that maybe he needs to back off a little too.
“Realistically we have a lot of players who have not been in these situations at the end of games and I have to realize that,” Blum said. “We have to learn from those and maybe I have to not be so hard on them sometimes.”
Blum’s team has struggled to put the ball in the basket so far. The Lancers are shooting 40 percent from the field as a team and 70 percent from the free throw line.
“We just need to try and relax and keep taking good shots,” said Blum. “We have to keep grinding. These girls are unselfish and playing well as a team. We just need some others to step up and score for us other than Allison.”
Allison Kauffman, one of four seniors for Blum, has been outstanding. The 6-0 forward from Fort Wayne is averaging team-highs of 18.6 points-per-game and 8.9 rebounds per contest. The former standout at Blackhawk Christian had a career-high 31 points in a win and then 30 points in a loss during the team’s last two games on a recent trip to Florida.
“Allison is our leader,” remarked Blum. “The thing about her is that she would rather pass the ball than score so many points for us.”
Freshman guard Kelsie Peterson, who starred at West Noble High School, has came in and been a difference maker. She is averaging 9.3 ppg. and leads the Lancers with 17 treys and is first on the team in steals too.
The Lancers have also gotten strong contributions from senior Lindsey Schaefer (6.3), sophomore Darian Patton (5.4) and juniors Kelsey Sule (5.2) and Gabby Bryant (5.1).
“I’m excited because we have the team that can do it in the final part of the season,” said Blum. “They are definitely working hard and we played well on our trip to Florida.”
Grace returns to action with a game at Purdue-Calumet on Dec. 31. The Lancers then jump back into conference play with a game at Bethel College Jan. 3. Grace then returns home to face Spring Arbor on Jan. 7.