Women’s Basketball Head Coach Brian Ortmeier finished off his first year as a Wildcat earlier this month after a rough season but looks to learn from experience and focus on the future of the basketball program starting with recruiting.
The Wildcats ended their first season with Ortmeier at the helm with a 10-18 overall record while being last in the NSIC with a conference record of 5-17. The Cats started the season off strong with five straight wins and later in the season beat Northern State and MSU Moorhead later in the season.
Ortmeier said the Moorhead win was “a nice win” for the team because it was the first time in 13 seasons the Cats beat the Dragons at home and the first win over the Dragons in five seasons.
“I think it shows progress when you can go get a tough road win like that,” Ortmeier said. “And that’s something that we can continue to build onto. So, it’s being able to start having some of those big wins and to just keep stacking them here as we continue to just get a little better every year.”
The Cats had other highlights to the season as well, including Kylah vanDonkersgoed earning All-NSIC Second Team Honors and the defensive strength that showed throughout the season.
WSC also had some rough patches including the shooting mainly from the beyond the arch where the Cats shot 26%.
“We just didn’t shoot the ball well,” Ortmeier said. “I mean I’ve been coaching twelve years… that’s the lowest total that I’ve had a team shoot from three. So, it made things really challenging on the offensive end.”
On offense the Cats averaged 62.8 points per game while shooting 39% from the field, 26% from three, and 72% from the free throw line. WSC also averaged 36.6 total rebounds per game, 11.9 assists per game but turned the ball over an average of 17.5 times a game.
The defense of the Cats was the bright spot that forced 17.5 turnovers a game with 8.9 steals and 3.9 blocks per game.
“I think defensively at times this year we matched up pretty well,” Ortmeier said. “And that’s something we can continue to adjust and fine tune and get better with too. But we’ve got to be able to match the firepower of some of these other teams, and that’s an area that we’re going to focus on over the offseason.”
Ortmeier took in different lessons from the season which included learning how each opponent in the conference plays with a big realization being the strong guard play teams have. In addition, Ortmeier talked about how travel was something he had to get used to and develop a plan for throughout the season.
“I think travels kind of an animal in this conference,” Ortmeier said. “There’s little things that when you’ve got a back-to-back. ‘How do you want to travel?’ ‘Do you want to stay in a location, or do you want to try and get to that next town?’… So, you know, there’s little nuanced things that you adjust to as you go through a full season.”
Athletic Director Mike Powicki throughout the season felt reassured that hiring Ortmeier was the correct decision due to his willingness to never give up and stay strong even when things weren’t going his way.
“Even when we were struggling, certainly down the stretch, he was positive,” Powicki said. “He was active; he was constantly coaching our girls every step of the way. I peek in [at] practices and [noticed him being] really high tempo, high energy, very positive [the] same thing, when coaching games all the way down the stretch. He was in every game. He was competitively coaching.”
The creativity and commitment Ortmeier has was another aspect of the season that reassured Powicki on his decision to hire him.
“I can see we’ve got a coach that cares and is committed and [I] could also see him trying different things to really garner some success with different lineups, different sets and those kinds of things,” Powicki said.
Emma Frost a sophomore guard last season, saw the season as full of hidden positives which included the building of a foundation and adjusting to the new coaching style of Ortmeier who plays a faster paced game compared to past head coach Brent Pollari who liked a slower more controlled pace.
“One of the biggest positives was that we started building a clear identity,” Frost said. “Coach O wants us to play fast, aggressive, and disciplined, and by the end of the season you could see flashes of that coming together…There was an emphasis on competing every day in practice, paying attention to details, and holding ourselves to a higher standard.”
With the offseason now in full swing, Ortmeier said he wants to focus on the rebuilding and recruiting it takes to make a team great again. Ortmeier entered his first full recruiting cycle this season as well. Ortmeier came in with a short time to recruit before his first season started so he said having a full cycle will be “big” for the team and the future success of the team starting with three-point shooting.
“So that’s been a focus for us in the recruiting process, is adding three-point shooting and just becoming more explosive as a team,” Ortmeier said. “Last year we [Briar Cliff] had a final four team that shot at 37% from three. You have to be kind of at that 36 to 37% to be a national tournament caliber team.”
Part of the recruiting process includes showing off the campus to the possible signee and with the recent improvements to campus, Ortmeier has new grounds to help support why athletes should come to Wayne State.
“Here at Wayne State, there’s a lot of great things going on with new facilities and renovations to facilities,” Ortmeier said. “And being able to fully sell all those things too now, that’s a huge benefit to us in terms of how we’re going to go about recruiting athletes.”
Powicki believes Ortmeier’s connections he already has from Briar Cliff, 48 miles away, will come in handy when recruiting for WSC because he doesn’t have to fully start from scratch. He already has relationships with high schools, clubs and athletes.
Ortmeier has shown his want for more recruitment by increasing the number of players he brought to Wayne State during the season.
“I mean, from day one when he got here, the number of recruiting visits that he brought in from girls and families from the region was pretty incredible,” Powicki said. “It was
nonstop…I mean, you have to cast a wide net to find the talent. You need to build a successful program as a part of your evaluation during the recruitment process. And he’s certainly done that.”
Not only will recruiting be occurring this offseason but building off the foundation that was set but Ortmeier in year one and refining the skills.
“That means elevating our conditioning, sharpening our execution and continuing to build stronger chemistry,” Frost said. “We’re also focused on becoming a more efficient and consistent offensive team next season, making skill development a clear priority. It’s about fully embracing the competitive identity he [Ortmeier] wants for this program and making it our own.
