Harper Taylor was pleased with the way her first season as women's basketball coach at Kansas Wesleyan progressed.

The Coyotes qualified for the Kansas Conference's postseason tournament by winning their last three regular season games. It was an abrupt reversal after three consecutive losses put them on the brink.

"Just kind of learning through adversity, pushing through the experience," she said. "Being a head coach doesn't come with a playbook of how to do it the right way or how to do it the wrong way. I think it really built a strong foundation for this year. All of the close games that we had really showed us that we can produce a product and put a team together that can be in close games and compete with anybody, no matter what their talent is."

KWU finished with a 14-15 record and was eighth in the KCAC at 11-11.

Taylor is optimistic that the Coyotes will continue the progression this season, which begins against MidAmerica Nazarene on Tuesday in Olathe. The home opener is Nov. 18 against Sterling.

"Having the girls that we had in the postseason return in the summer and the preseason … I mean the growth has just been astronomical from our seniors to our sophomores to our incoming freshmen. That's just really been our mindset ever since we ended last season."

Taylor is counting on a trio of returning players to lead the way – senior point guard Odessa Ozuna, senior forward Izzy McCool and sophomore guard Anna Jueneman. Ozuna led the team in scoring (13.3) and assists (4.9) and was second in rebounding (5.6).

"She has always just been a rock for this program," Taylor said. "She learned a lot, obviously from LaMyah Ricks, but now she's kind of in the spotlight. I know that she's going to continue to step up, maybe in some different ways from last year."

McCool averaged 12.8 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds in her first season after transferring from Dordt.

"You never would have guessed that she's a transfer because of how much she loves being at Kansas Wesleyan and how much pride she has being on our basketball team," Taylor said. "She works hard in practice with the girls; she really pushes them and the relationship that she has with the team is really special."

Jueneman had a superb freshman season averaging 9.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and a team-high 52 steals.

"AJ is just such a little spitfire; she is so competitive," Taylor said. "She will be a strength of our team for sure."

Two others return as well – sophomore guard Charley Baxter and sophomore center Raegann McDonald.

"I think you're going to see a really big jump with Charley," Taylor said, "she really worked her butt off in the postseason. Raegann could be a big factor inside, especially defensively."

Junior guard Anna Thielen impressed Taylor during preseason camp. She was on the developmental team last season.

"She might start for us this year; she's been a great glue player," Taylor said. "I gave her some very specific things I wanted her to do in the offseason, and not only did she do them, but she saw the benefits. She looks like a completely different player and I'm very excited about her."

Three transfers could have impacts as well – forward Katrina Schutz from Minnesota West Community College, guard Annie Dawson from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and guard Karsyn Huss from Chadron State.

"Schutz came from a very good program," Taylor said. "She's very smart, her basketball IQ is through the roof and is a very versatile player. She's 6-1 and can play inside, she can play outside defensively because she is so long. Dawson, offensively, is really crafty. I'm trying to get her used to being at (point guard). She's not fully there yet, Odessa's going to be mostly there, but Andy could maybe fill that backup spot."

Freshman guard Keimara Marshall from Topeka has a chance to contribute, according to Taylor.

"She can handle the ball but she's just young," she said. "Being a freshman I'm going to have to really get her ready for the (backup point guard) spot and it'll take a little bit. But defensively the kid can guard."
Taylor said fans might not recognize this year's team.

"It will look very different from how Kansas Wesleyan has played before," she said. "We're going to be more guard heavy, more transition heavy. We've got a lot of in-between positions, so we have got a lot of versatility. Very curious to see how it works out."

Limiting turnovers is imperative.

"We've got to take care of the ball," she said. "It's really about minimizing your mistakes because the more you can do that the less the other team is exploiting them. I think that needs to be a big focus for us this year. Just more poise."