Lake Region State College women eye return to national tournament

Article by Sam Herder, Devils Lake Journal Sports, published Oct. 15, 2015.

As Lake Region State College head women's basketball coach Danny Mertens tells his players often, when you put the Lady Royals jersey on, you have an X on your back.

And understandably so. The last time LRSC wasn't in the Region XIII championship game was 1999. The Royals have won nine of those 15 region title games since and have had 13 20-win seasons in that time span.

They're coming off a 26-8 season and have appeared in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament two years in a row.

"Coming back from last year, since we won the region and the district, I think it's high expectations to say the least," sophomore guard Kelsey Schlenk said.

With four sophomores returning and a fifth added via transfer, the Royals plan on adding to their string of success.

Returning to lead LRSC is a Mon-Dak Conference first-team selection last season in Kennedy Henningsgard, who averaged 13.9 points per game. Megan Cantellano, Shaina Stevenson and Schlenk all averaged 10-14 minutes per game.

LRSC also adds Kristal Flowers, a 6-foot-1 post player. Flowers was a member of the Copiah-Lincoln Community College team that finished 27-1 last season.

"It's a team that I think we're able to get out and go," Mertens said. "I think we're going to be able to shoot the ball. Not that we couldn't shoot it last year, but I got 3-4 kids out there that can shoot it. And we have a post presence. In Kristal, people will probably have to zone us. If you zone us, we can shoot the ball. We'll be able to go inside-outside."

The Royals lost a handful of sophomores from last year's team, but gain some height. It also helps to have Henningsgard, last season's leading scorer, return.

She was selected as one of the top 40 NJCAA student athletes to take part in the 7th annual NJCAA Women's Basketball Coach's Association All-Star Weekend in July.

"I definitely feel like I have a bigger role this year seeing we only have four returners and seven freshmen," Henningsgard said. "It's a big difference compared to last year." 

With a taste of the national tournament appearance last season, Mertens said he expects a lot out of his sophomores. But he'll also need valuable playing time from the freshmen.

Mertens said he knows the players in both grades realize the expectations and the goals have stayed the same of winning conference and region titles.

"The bar is set pretty high here and we're going to keep that bar set," Mertens said. ""Those are things that we are going to set. It's the same as we had last year and just trying to check them off. I'm going with the same motto as last year that we have to get better everyday."

The Region XIII champion this year gets an automatic bid into the national tournament instead of playing in districts. 

Being in that title game each of the last 15 years, the Royals not only have high expectations surrounding them, but have accepted the role as being the team to beat.

"We definitely have those high goals," Henningsgard said. "It was such a great experience that we want to get back there again. We're determined to do whatever it takes to get back there."