What did you say your name was again?

This is precisely what a majority of the student body at Simpson College is going to be asking themselves at the start of the women’s basketball season this year.

While the team should have another successful season, there are going to be several new faces on campus this year that are going to have to make quite the contributions on the women’s basketball program for the next few years if this success is going to continue.

The previous decade has been dominated by Storm Women’s Basketball, but senior leadership is going to be vital if the Storm look to compete at a high level this year.

For the Storm several key faces are still around to help guide the newcomers in the right direction. Faces like Kate Nielsen, Kelsie Reeves, Chelsie Rohrs, Nicole Crisp, and Cassie Bardole are going to play a key role in developing the future of the program. Through their leadership on and off the court they will look to turn recent high school stars into current college role players.

Some of these role players are going to include high schools phenoms likes Whitney Van Wyk, Morgan Mauro, and Maddie Bosworth.

Whitney Van Wyk, currently a first year who attended Southeast Polk, built quite the resume in her high school career.

As a senior, Van Wyk was chosen second team Des Moines Register Elite, second team all-state, and was picked first team all-district. Van Wyk looks to make an immediate impact this year for the Storm as she will be the backup shooting guard.

“I hopefully will be able to contribute to the team by bringing my perimeter shooting to the team, mainly 3 point shooting, as well as defense,” Van Wyk said.

Another first year, Morgan Mauro, who attended Dowling Catholic, also is going to contribute to the team as a backup guard or small forward. While Mauro also looks to bring an offensive presence to the Storm she wants to play a factor in getting back to the tournament.

“I am going to do anything that I need to do to make the team successful. My goals are to assist the team in becoming conference champions once again and to make it to the NCAA tournament,” Mauro said.

Lastly, is yet another first year in Maddie Bosworth. Bosworth who also attended Dowling Catholic wanted to continue playing basketball after high school and figured Simpson was the perfect community to do so. Bosworth will be the backup point guard this year and will look to provide a lot of energy and leadership to her new role while she will also be learning as she goes.

Bosworth said, “A goal of mine is to learn as much as I can from the older girls on the team on and off the court so I can be better both on and off the court this year, and in the future years here at Simpson.”

These are going to be three prominent players for the Storm, but this is only a glimpse of new faces that the program has brought in.

Half of the team is virtually first years, but do not let that mislead you.

The recent polls that came out had the Storm finishing second in the Conference this year behind Coe College.

Another upside for the Storm is they are in great hands being led by Coach Brian Niemuth.

By the time the season ends, Simpson College, along with the rest of the Iowa Conference, will have a good idea of where our program is headed as well as some of the new weapons that Simpson has acquired that will be around for several more years.