Spartan women win home opener

Returning sophomores Brooklyn Hadl and Sharmaine Tapling combined for 54 points to lead the Southwestern women to a 75-46 win over Graceland University JV in their home opener Tuesday evening.

The Spartans showed a strong defense under first-year coach Kori Zarzutzki, holding the Yellowjackets to 22 points in the first half in taking an 11-point lead at the break. The Spartans had a strong second half, owning an 18-12 advantage in the third quarter before blowing it open with a 26-12 fourth quarter.

The Spartans showed an effective transition attack with Hadl and Tapling on the front end of numerous fast breaks. Hadl finished with a game-high 29 points, including 12-of-13 at the free throw line, and Tapling contributed 25 points.

It’s a veteran team under Zarzutzki, with returning sophomores Gabby Dwanyen an McKenna Wiechman joining freshman center Dalanie Auffert in the starting lineup Tuesday.

“They like to get out and run and find the open person,” Zarzutzki said. “That’s how they energize each other. It gives us high percentage opportunities. It was a great home opener for us.”

Joslyn Policky, a versatile 5-8 freshman from Blair, Nebraska, came off the bench to provide a spark for the Spartans with seven points. Dwanyen, slowed by illness Tuesday, finished with six points.

Hadl, also the starting shortstop on Southwestern’s softball team, triggered the strong fast start by Southwestern with 20 first-half points, including 9-of-9 at the free throw line.

Hadl also led Southwestern in the season-opening 71-62 loss at Southeast Community College (Nebraska) with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

“Brooklyn is just an athlete,” Zarzutzki said. “She’s a go-getter. Honestly, her main sport is softball, but she’s a leader for us in basketball as well.”

Olivia Heartwell, freshman from Anchorage, Alaska, is coming off knee surgery but helped the Spartans off the bench with some spot minutes Tuesday. Auffert, the 6-0 freshman center from Parnell, Missouri, provided four points while anchoring the rebounding in the post.

The Spartans travel to the Johnson County (Kansas) Classic this weekend, taking on second-ranked Johnson County and a Highland Community College team that received national ratings votes.

Conference outlook

Southwestern was ranked 10th in the ICCAC Region 11 preseason poll after tying for seventh last year at 6-14 (8-23 overall) in coach Darien Wingate’s final season. The ICCAC is loaded this season with four nationally-ranked teams — top-ranked and defending champion Kirkwood, No. 10 NIACC, No. 17 Iowa Western and No. 25 DMACC.

Kirkwood and Iowa Western both reached the national tournament a year ago as Kirkwood won its second national championship in three seasons, and ninth overall.

“We’re trying to take one game at a time and right now our focus is on Highland,” said Zarzutzki, who was head wome’s basketball coach at Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri, from 2021 through 2024. “But when it comes to (regional) tournament play, I think we can be competitive. We’re going to try to focus on the defensive end and get as many stops as possible. Now we just need to clean up some things in terms of turnovers. We didn’t have a (preseason) scrimmage with our full team, so we just had the one game, which was really our scrimmage. So were still working on some things. But our sophomores are great leaders and our freshmen are eager to learn.”

SOUTHWESTERN — (75) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 28 17-24 75. Brooklyn Hadl 8 12-13 29, Sharmaine Tapling 11 2-2 25, Joslyn Policky 2 3-4 7, Gabby Dwanyen 3 0-2 6, McKenna Wiechman 2 0-0 4, Dalanie Auffert 2 0-3 4. 3-point goals (2) — Tapling 1, Hadl 1. Team fouls — 19. Fouled out — Dwanyen.

GRACELAND JV (46) — Totals — (FG FT PTS) 18 3-10 46. Grace Vinyard 5 0-0 13, Mikiah Verdum 4 0-0 9, Lazaiya Kinville 2 2-4 6, Dahsani Boyd 3 0-0 6, Kayla Smolley 1 0-2 3, Aiyanna Hannah 1 1-2 3, Ahmari Byrd 1 0-0 2, Jazharia Taylore 1 0-2 2, Melanie JeanCharles 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals (5) — Vineyard 3, Verdum 1, Smolley 1. Team fouls — 21. Fouled out — None.

SWCC team roster

Sophomores — McKenna Wiechman, 5-5, Griswold; Gabby Dwanyen, 5-10, Des Moines; Sharmaine Tapling, 5-10, Auckland, New Zealand; Brooklyn Hadl, 5-8, Ottawa, Kansas.

Freshmen — Jimena De Leon, 5-2, Guatemala; Joslyn Policky, 5-8, Blair, Neb.; Behlla Lavulavu, 5-11, Melbourne, Australia; Olivia Heartwell, 5-8, Anchorage, Alaska; Dalanie Auffert, 6-0, Parnell, Missouri; Crystle Cordero, 5-3, El Paso, Texas.