2012-13 North Park Women's Basketball Roster
2012-13 North Park Women's Basketball Schedule

Heading into her fifth season as head coach of the North Park women's basketball team, Amanda Reese doesn't expect anything less than the best finish any team has produced under her tenure.

“This is going to be a great year as our veteran squad understands what it takes to win at this level,” Reese said. “We need to continue to work hard each day and control what we can: effort and attitude.”

That will start with one of the largest senior classes the program has seen in recent memory, with six seniors looking to finish their college careers with their best seasons yet.

“Our seniors were part of our first recruiting class,” Reese said. “Sarah Peterson, Dana Christensen, Shaina Yalda, Kamauria Acree, Becca Heimsath, and Bridgette Gray are hungry and ready to accomplish the goals we've set for this year. It's been rewarding to watch this senior class grow as students, athletes, and people.”

Peterson returns as the Vikings' leading scorer after the departure of graduate center Roxxanne Jones. The native of Eagan, Minn., averaged a little under 10 points per game last season, and was one of North Park's stingiest defenders as she led the team in steals (55) and blocked shots (42). What's more is Peterson averaged 5.7 rebounds, including a team-best 3.8 rebounds a game on the defensive glass. She'll be complimented by the strong inside play from Heimsath, as well as the outside shooting from Christensen. Add the aggressiveness that Acree and Yalda bring on the fast break, along with Gray leading the offense at the point, and the Vikings have a strong combination of hard-nosed basketball.

“Taking pride in out-working our opponents on the defensive end will remain a constant for us,” Reese said. “We plan to improve in areas which we have struggled with in the past: rebounding, field goal percentage, and points per game. In order to improve this, we need to play unselfish basketball and strive for balanced scoring.”

The Vikings finished with 10 victories last season, the most under Reese, and a 4-10 mark in the CCIW. In all the conference games North Park played, only seven of their losses were decided by 10 or more points, and the Vikings improved in each of their second meetings against conference opponents.

North Park's incoming class, led by freshmen Nicole Kruckman, Kaitlin Eden-Nelson, and Soly Roman, along with Tara Spell, a standout on the North Park volleyball team, should make an immediate impact in helping the Vikings finish strong in the conference this season.

“It's still early for us,” Reese said, “but I expect impacts from several freshmen as well as our sophomores and juniors. We should have a good year, and as long as we continue to strive to get better, we're going to see results every time out.”

North Park opens the season Nov. 16 at home against Milwaukee School of Engineering at 7:00 pm.