WC Wisconsin News

As the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women’s basketball season heads into February, Head Coach Tonja Englund is hopeful for a successful run into March.

After last year’s season was cut short due to COVID-19, players had an opportunity to receive an additional year of eligibility. For many teams, that meant rosters with several fifth-year seniors.

Eau Claire did not return any bonus seniors, and has only one natural senior on the team’s roster.

“We started off the season unranked, and we've beaten five teams now in the top 20 in Division III with only one senior on the team, so it's a pretty exciting team that is relatively young,” Englund told the WC Wisconsin News. “To have the kind of success that we've had so far this year with all those factors, along with the whole challenge of playing through a pandemic, it's been an amazing year already and, hopefully, is going to continue to be very exciting.”

Englund highlighted several players for their contributions.

Jessie Ruden, a junior point guard, is currently the second-leading scorer in the conference. She scored eight consecutive points during a key fourth-quarter stretch that propelled Eau Claire to a home victory over No. 6 Whitewater.

Junior Courtney Crouch is the team’s best defender and shares some of the point guard responsibilities. And Junior Tyra Boettcher has taken on a versatile role with many key moments throughout the season.

Sophomore Kylie Mogen, who joined the team at the start of the semester, has already made significant contributions, Englund said, and Jade Ganski, another sophomore, leads the nation in blocked shots.

Moving forward, Englund said the goal is always to win the WIFC and to make the NCAA tournament. With a 9-2 record during the partial season last year, she said they were confident they had an NCAA tournament team, but COVID-19 will leave that as an unknown.

With a mission to get back in the NCAA tournament this year, Englund said support from the stands, the campus and the community has been great. They hope a home NCAA tournament game at Zorn Arena is the thanks they can give back.