NORFOLK – As the Northeast Community College women’s basketball team gears up for its 2016-17 season, Coach Matt Svehla sees many positive things.

Svehla, who is entering his 23^rd full season as head coach at Northeast, said his team’s wide range of skills should be a considerable advantage this year.

“We have a nice mixture of experience, talent, size, athleticism and basketball IQ. Our togetherness and chemistry appears to be pretty good, and that is always a major plus as well.

I really like this team’s versatility. We have some key players who have good length and skill sets. That combination will allow us to do many different things on both ends of the court.”

The Hawks finished with a 28-5 record last season and won the NJCAA Region XI and District K championships. They qualified for the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship in Lubbock, TX, where they were defeated 57-51 in the first round by Vincennes University (IN).

Five sophomores and seven freshmen comprise this year’s roster, including two transfers. Sophomore Aida Santana, originally from Canary Islands, Spain, joins the Hawks from Western Wyoming Community College, while freshman Maddie Egr, originally from Yutan,previously played for Concordia University.

“These two players have great versatility and solid skill sets, and their experience playing college basketball last season should serve them well and be a great asset to this year’s team,” said Svehla.

The Hawks return four players from last year’s squad: Savannah Au, Brisbane, Australia; Cynthia Jorge, Canary Islands, Spain; Maeva Kitantou, Orleans, France; and Bianca McDonald, Adelaide, Australia.

Kitantou was named to the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Division I First Team last year and was Northeast’s second leading scorer at 12 points per game. She was one of the top steal leaders in the country and also shot over 40 percent from the three-point line.

Svehla said the incoming freshman players offer the team a mixture of sizes and positions. He said that while he expects all of them to make strides as they gain experience, 6’3” Mykala Baylor, South Bend, IN, should be a factor immediately.

Other freshman players include: Melanie Bateman, Sunshine Coast, Australia; Iva Belosevic, Zagreb, Croatia; Sam Caruth, Las Vegas, NV; Jerrica Neal, Gary, IN; and Kaitlynn Sjuts, Humphrey.

Jesse Dunbar serves as assistant coach and Aleynah Hendrix, Scribner, is student manager.

Northeast will open the season at the North Dakota State College of Science Classic on Friday, November 4, in Wahpeton, ND.