Prestegaard sisters back to starting alongside each other in college

For years, the AFC girls basketball team was able to lean on a one-two punch in the low post with Madeline and Jaynee Prestegaard. The Prestegaard sisters are still playing alongside each other, and now that same one-two punch is working wonders for St. Ambrose.

The Fighting Bees, off to a 5-3 start to the season, have gotten double-digit points from one or both of the sisters in every game this season.

So far this season, Madeline Prestegaard is averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Jaynee Prestegaard is averaging 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds.

“Just as of late, Jaynee and I have been playing more, being able to play more together which is really awesome and fun,” Madeline Prestegaard said.

It hasn’t been an easy season for the Bees to navigate. After a season-opening 77-58 win over Culver-Stockton, a rash of COVID-19 cases kept the team off the court for more than a month. St. Ambrose won its first two games back after the break, but then lost sophomore forward Kylie Wroblewski to a finger injury, possibly for the season.

That injury to Wroblewski, who was averaging 18.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, meant a spot opened up in the St. Ambrose starting lineup, a spot Jaynee Prestegaard was able to fill. She scored 13 points in her first start, a win over Waldorf, then scored 12 in a win over Judson a few days later. The Bees lost to St. Xavier on January 6, a game in which Jaynee Prestegaard had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Madeline Prestegaard had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s hard for anybody to step up and take that role, but it made it easier to have Mads there with me. It just felt like old times again,” Jaynee Prestegaard said. “That’s why the transition was more smooth than most people would face. I’m excited for this opportunity. It does stink that Kylie’s out, because she was a big part of the way we run our team, but it’s fun to get to start with Mads and do it all over.”

Instead of Jaynee coming in to sub for Madeline, as often happened before Wroblewski was injured, now they often find themselves on the floor at the same time.

“I’ve been granted this heavier role, so whenever I’m in there I try to make the most of my minutes,” Jaynee said. “In college, I’m taking more outside shots than I did in high school. In high school it was just the turnaround jumper, that was my thing, but more in college my coach has helped me branch out to take longer shots.”

Back when they were in Raiders uniforms, their games were somewhat similar, with both adept at using low-post moves to generate offense in the paint and fight for rebounds. In college, their games have diverged a bit. Madeline has leaned into something which was always a strength of her game: her ability to power past, around or through a defender to get to the rim. Jaynee has developed another dimension by using quickness and an ability to play outside the paint.

“When we got to college, it’s no secret Jaynee’s quicker than me, a lot more agile and athletic,” Madeline said. “She’s able to play the 4 spot really well, use her body, use her length. She’s a great defender. Whereas me, I got bulked up and got a lot stronger to be that true 5, post player.”

“She killed it in high school and she’s killing it out here,” Jaynee said. “She’s definitely a lot stronger than she was in high school. She’s using her body more, and she’s very muscular. She’s not afraid of anything. She beats me up in practice, she beats everybody up. That’s just her nature.”

The Fighting Bees are 1-1 in conference as they look to take another step forward off of a 2019-20 season in which they went 16-14 overall and 14-8 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

But as they move forward, they know none of it is guaranteed. Already, a slated Saturday matchup against Calumet College St. Joseph was called off when that school decided to cancel its entire women’s basketball season. St. Ambrose would have played Indiana University-South Bend on January 16, but that game is off as well.

When the Bees are playing, it’s in front of a select few fans on a pass list.

“What motivates us now is not only playing harder without one of our starting five, but just the COVID season,” Madeline said. “We’re not guaranteed any games this year. We can go into quarantine any time, so it’s more motivation to play every game like it could be our last game this season. I think that gives us an edge.”