Coe women’s basketball sizzling heading into break

CEDAR RAPIDS — Sometimes a lengthy rest is not ideal.

The Coe women’s basketball team heads to winter break on a 10-game win streak, so one could hardly fault the Kohawks if they preferred to play on through the 12-day respite from game action.

“It’s kind of the joke, right?” Coe Coach Kayla Waskow said after the Kohawks overpowered North Central (Ill.), 74-58, in a non-conference game Tuesday at Kohawk Arena. “That was our 10th in a row tonight, but I think a break is really good for us. I think they’ve earned it.

“I trust our group to put us in a good spot when we come back. Yes, you want to keep the momentum going. You don’t want to stop it, so it is just up to us to find it again after break.”

At 10-1 overall, this start to the season is believed to be the best in program history. Coe is off until Dec. 30 when it hosts Monmouth.

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When the schedule resumes, sophomore guard Taylor Brunson hopes to continue her scorching offensive start. The Linn-Mar graduate is averaging a team-best 19.6 points per game, which includes a program record-tying 37 points — previously held by current Coe point guard Caydee Kirkham — Dec. 7 at Buena Vista.

“It definitely stems from a lot of work in the gym,” Brunson said. “I’m up every day, two hours a day outside of practice putting up (shots). But also, it’s not just me. It’s my teammates, as well. They get me the ball or they get good screens. … it’s definitely finding when my hands are hot.”

Brunson’s hands remained at maximum temperature six nights later when she poured in 30 more points at home in an 80-61 win over Grinnell. It was just the second time in program history a player had scored at least 30 points in back-to-back contests.

Brunson was named American Rivers Conference Female Athlete of the Week on Dec. 9 and Dec. 16.

“Taylor is one of the hardest workers in our locker room, I don’t think there is any question about that,” Waskow said. “She puts herself in a good spot and trusts what we’re trying to do. We’re also putting her in really good spots. If they put a smaller guard on her, bully her up. Put a bigger person on her, go around them. Just a credit to Taylor’s work ethic.”

While at Linn-Mar, Brunson helped the Lions win 30 games over her final two seasons and was named to the all-Mississippi Valley Conference first team both times. As a Coe freshman last year, Brunson started all 27 games and was third on the team in points (11.7) and rebounds (4.4) per game. She also was second in total assists (46) and first in total steals (61).

The return of Brunson, Kirkham and junior guard Kelly Knight from last year’s 21-6 team had Coe picked to finish second — behind 2024 Final Four participant Wartburg — in the ARC preseason poll despite the loss of size due to the graduation of two forwards. Filling those voids in the post has been senior Ellie Wisner and freshman Audrie Helmrichs, an Edgewood-Colesburg graduate.

“It excites us because we have a lot to build on,” Brunson said. “We still have so much to work on and improve on, but we also know how great we can be when we’re playing our best. It’s exciting to see how much we can excel as a team.”