IVCC women’s basketball team hopes to improve

After winning only two games and having multiple games canceled because of a lack of healthy players last season, the Illinois Valley Community College women’s basketball team is looking to rebound this season.

“We’d like to improve on last year,” IVCC coach Josh Nauman said. “Just staying healthy and playing a full season would be a goal. We want to compete in the [Arrowhead] conference and have a winning record. Hopefully, we can do that. I think we increased our talent level a lot. We have a lot of experience coming back. We look pretty good in practice, but we’ll see how it goes when we get against other teams.”

The Eagles return five players who saw significant playing time last season in Fieldcrest graduate Alyx Carls, Putnam County alumna Sophie Harris, Princeton graduate Taylor Quiram, Keally Braman and Kelsey Berchtold.

“Hopefully, their experience will help,” Nauman said.

IVCC also added a pair of talented transfers in Streator alumna Natali Haynes, a 6-foot-2 forward, and Serena graduate Taylor Staton, a 5-8 forward.

Haynes transferred from Quincy University, an NCAA Division II school, while Staton played at Joliet Junior College last season.

In high school, Haynes set Streator’s career scoring record with 1,309 points while grabbing more than 1,500 rebounds and blocking about 400 shots. She averaged 17.3 points, 15 rebounds and 4.5 blocks a game in her COVID-19-shortened senior season.

“Natalie should be a difference-maker,” Nauman said. “She put up huge numbers in high school. She finishes very well around the basket. It’s nice to have a girl who is 6-2 who has a lot of skill.”

Staton played in 22 games with 14 starts for Joliet last year, averaging 6.2 points and 3 rebounds a game. She averaged 13.8 points and 7 rebounds per game as a senior at Serena.

Freshmen Elizabeth Browder, an Earlville graduate, Jenesis Greening, a La Salle-Peru alumna, and Leah Smudzinski, a St. Bede graduate, also are expected to make an impact.

Nauman said the offense will run through Haynes, but the Eagles have plenty of shooters to give them an inside-outside game.

“Probably a lot of it will [run through Haynes],” Nauman said. “As teams collapse in on her, that should open a lot up for our shooters and we have some pretty good shooters.

“Taylor Quiram and Keally Braman both had good years last year. Alyx shot the ball pretty well last year. Greening and Smudzinski have come in and have been knocking down shots. Taylor Staton can shoot. We have a lot of people who can shoot and hopefully we can knock some down.”

Nauman said defense is the Eagles’ biggest concern entering the season.

“We have people who can play and know how to play, so hopefully, we’ll be OK,” Nauman said.