Mustangs announce women’s basketball recruits
Morningside women’s basketball head coach Jamie Sale announced the names of 10 incoming players who comprise the Mustangs’ 2018 recruiting class.
Morningside women’s basketball head coach Jamie Sale announced the names of 10 players who comprise the Mustangs’ 2018 recruiting class.
Morningside’s recruiting class includes one transfer and nine high school seniors.
The Mustangs’ recruits are:
Madison Clayton, a 5-8 guard from Sioux City, Iowa. Clayton is a senior at Sioux City West High School, where she averaged 7.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game this past season. She led the Wolverines with 83 assists and ranked second on the team with 55 steals for norms of 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals per contest. Clayton was the Wolverines’ best free throw shooter with 40 free throws in 49 attempts for a conversion rate of 81.6 percent and their top 3-point threat with a team-high 26 3-point field goals in 70 attempts for a team-high 37.1 percent.
Hallie Dicus, a 5-9 forward from Sioux City. Dicus is a senior at Sioux City West High School, where she averaged 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game en route to second-team All-Missouri River Activities Conference honors this past season. Dicus, the Wolverines’ second leading scorer with 212 points, was one of the team’s best free throw shooters with 35 free throws in 52 attempts for 67.3 percent.
Tenly Hansen, a 5-10 forward from York, Neb. Hansen is a senior at York High School, where she received Class B honorable mention all-state recognition from the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal-Star this past season. Hansen was limited to 11 games this past season due to an injury. She averaged 9.2 points per game and scored a season’s high 18 points against Ralston. Hansen made 32 of 63 field goal attempts for 50.8 percent, 19 of 45 3-point field goal attempts for 42.2 percent and 18 of 25 free throw attempts for 72.0 percent.
Hansen also received honorable mention all-state recognition from the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal-Star as a junior when she averaged 8.7 points per game and led York with 42 steals for an average of 1.6 per game. She made a team-high 36 3-point field goals in 107 attempts for 33.6 percent and was the Dukes’ best free throw shooter with 48 free throws in 58 attempts for 82.8 percent.
She is the sister of Morningside freshman guard Tayte Hansen.
Madisyn Heeren, a 5-10 forward from McCook Lake, S.D. Heeren is a senior at Dakota Valley High School, where she was the Panthers’ top rebounder and second leading scorer with averages of 9.5 rebounds and 9.7 points per game this past season. Aside from leading the team in rebounding, Heeren also topped the Panthers with 35 blocked shots for an average of 1.6 rejections per game. She led the team in field goal accuracy with 70 hoops in 155 attempts for 45.2 percent and converted 73 of 98 free throw bids for 74.5 percent.
Heeren was also Dakota Valley’s leading rebounder and No. 2 scorer as a junior with averages of 8.5 rebounds and 10.9 points per contest.
Kristine Honomichl, a 5-5 guard from Commerce City, Colo. Honomichl is a senior at The Academy in Westminster, Colo., where she was the Wildcats’ top scorer and second leading rebounder this past season with averages of 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She led the team with 47 assists and ranked second with 61 steals for averages of 2.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game. Honomichl converted a team-high 68 of 95 free throw attempts for 71.6 percent. Honomichl scored a season’s high 19 points against Arrupe Jesuit and grabbed a season’s high 10 rebounds in contests against Strasburg and Bennett.
Haleigh Melstad, a 5-9 forward from Vermillion, S.D. Melstad is a senior at Vermillion High School, where she broke into the Tanagers’ starting lineup as an eighth grader and will graduate as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1729 career points. She also set Vermillion records with 259 career 3-point field goals and 248 career steals.
Melstad was a South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association first-team Class A all-stater this past season when she averaged 16.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She made a team-high 73 3-point field goals and led the team with 64 steals for an average of 2.5 per game.
Sophia Peppers, a 5-11 forward from Exira, Iowa. Peppers is a senior at Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton High School, where she was a four-year starter and one of the top players in Iowa’s Class 1A ranks over the past three seasons. She amassed 1637 points and 735 rebounds for averages of 16.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game over her prep career.
Peppers earned first-team all-state honors from the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association (IPSWA) and Iowa Girls Coaches Association (IGCA) and honorable mention all-state recognition from the Des Moines Register this past season. Peppers was the Spartans’ leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 18.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and also topped the team with 141 steals, 91 assists and 21 blocked shots. She averaged 5.4 steals and 3.6 assists per contest. Her 141 steals was the third highest total in the state of Iowa. Peppers made 172 of 339 field goal attempts for 50.7 percent, 26 of 64 3-point field goal attempts for 40.6 percent and 116 of 154 free throw attempts for 75.3 percent to lead the team in shooting accuracy in all three categories.
She averaged 17.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game as a junior en route to first-team all-state laurels from the Iowa Newspaper Association (INA) and the IGCA and honorable mention all-state honors from the Des Moines Register. Peppers was a first-team Des Moines Register all-stater, a second-team INA all-stater and a third-team IGCA all-stater as a sophomore when she averaged 15.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 1.0 blocked shots per game. She averaged 12.3 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game as a freshman.
Taylor Rodenburgh, a 5-8 guard from Sioux Center, Iowa. Rodenburgh is a senior at West Sioux High School, where she led the team in scoring as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Rodenburgh, who was sidelined for her senior campaign due to a knee injury, will graduate from West Sioux as the Falcons’ all-time leading scorer with 1176 career points.
Rodenburgh was a third-team Class 2A INA all-stater and a first-team Sioux City Journal All-Northwest Iowa selection as a junior when she was the Falcons’ leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and topped the team with 85 steals for a rate of 3.5 steals per contest. She made 147 of 271 field goal attempts for 54.2 percent and was the Falcons’ best 3-point and free throw shooter with a team-high 41 3-point field goals in 112 attempts for 36.6 percent and 65 of 81 free throw attempts for 80.2 percent.
Rodenburgh earned third-team Sioux City Journal All-Northwest Iowa honors as a sophomore when she averaged 17.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game and was a fifth-team selection as a freshman when she averaged 15.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game.
Skylar Snider, a 5-10 forward from Kearney, Neb., who will join the team with junior eligibility as a transfer from Daytona State Community College, where she averaged 12.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 16 contests this past season. Snider scored a season’s high 25 points and grabbed a season’s high 11 rebounds in separate games against Palm Beach State. She scored in double figures in 10 of her final 12 contests with the Falcons.
Snider’s collegiate career began at NCAA Division I Seton Hall University, where she played in 22 games, including two starts, for the Pirates during the 2016-17 campaign. Snider averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game and made 20 of 57 field goal attempts for 35.1 percent, including an eight-for-28 showing for 28.6 percent from the 3-point arc. Snider posted the first double figure scoring performance of her collegiate career with a season’s high 10 points against the University of Minnesota and went for season’s highs of 10 points and 11 rebounds against Princeton University for the first double double of her collegiate career. A nine-point, seven-rebound performance against DePaul University earned Snider starts in the Pirates’ next two games against Georgetown University and Villanova University.
Snider is a 2016 graduate of Kearney High School, where she left as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1453 career points. She set a school record with 510 points for a 20.4-point scoring average to compliment a norm of 6.1 rebounds per game as a senior to earn first-team Class A all-state honors from the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal-Star. Snider averaged 16.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game as a junior to earn second-team all-state honors from the Lincoln Journal-Star and honorable mention all-state recognition from the Omaha World-Herald. She was an Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal-Star honorable mention all-stater as a sophomore.
Anna Van Dusen, a 6-0 forward from Ida Grove, Iowa. Van Dusen is a senior at OA-BCIG High School, where she was the team’s leading scorer and third leading rebounder with averages of 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this past season. She ranked second on the team with 25 blocked shots for an average of 1.4 rejections per contest.
Van Dusen was also the Falcons’ leading scorer as a junior when she averaged a career-high 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Morningside posted a 22-12 record during the 2017-18 season for its school-record 15th consecutive 20-win season. The Mustangs made a 16th consecutive appearance in the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship, where they advanced to the tournament’s second round before an 84-71 loss against Saint Xavier University. Morningside has a 442-93 record for a .826 winning percentage over the last 15 seasons and won NAIA Division II National Championships in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2015.