Kansas Wesleyan women's basketball coach Ryan Showman wasn't a big fan of the Coyotes' Jekyll and Hyde personality last season.
They were picked second by Kansas Conference coaches in a preseason poll but were sitting at 9-9 in early February before winning seven of eight. The Coyotes finished 16-11 and tied for fourth in the KCAC at 13-8.
"They're not happy with the way things ended," said Showman, who enters his ninth season as head coach. "We think second semester we let some opportunities go and really took us away from maybe reaching our potential and what we could have accomplished.
"There were some things that allowed us not to be very good. We let some leads go in the fourth quarter, there were some things we needed to address within our dynamic that I think we did."
Showman's optimistic things will be better in 2021-22. First and foremost is the fact the Coyotes return 91 percent of their scoring and 91 percent of their rebounding. Four starters and several reserves also return and are joined by a stellar recruiting class.
"We have a really good recruiting class, a really strong freshman class," he said. "We've got some freshmen that are going to play, we've got some transfers that are going to play. I feel like we strengthened the areas we were deficient in last year."
The biggest problem was at the wing position. Showman moved top scorer Amanda Hill (SR/Rossville, Kan.) from power forward to the wing during the season and it was a productive switch, to a degree.
"If you look at her stats from her junior year to her senior year last year her scoring went up (16.3 points per games), she was taking more shots but her percentages were way down," he said. "So, we've got her back in her normal position at that four spot."
Hill, who returns for a fifth season after the NAIA allowed seniors to have one more year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will rotate with her sister Caila, super senior Emily Rank (SR/Kansas City, Kan.) and Kelcey Hinz (JR/Whitewater, Kan.), the team's starting post player. Hinz had another monstrous season a year ago, averaging 14.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.1 blocks.
Hinz and Amanda Hill were Second Team All-KCAC selections a year ago.
"It has to start with Amanda and Kelcey," Showman said. "They've been our anchors for the last two seasons and they're going to be focal points this year."
Caila Hill (SO/Rossville, Kan.) started 17 games at power forward in place of her sister and averaged 7.5 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Gabby Mureeba (SO/Allen, Texas), who started at point guard last year, will replace Amanda Hill on the wing. She averaged 11.0 points but Showman believes the wing suits her better. LaMyah Ricks (FR/Shawnee Mission, Kan.), who came off the bench and saw considerable duty at the point, will start there this year. She averaged 5.9 points and had a season-high 17 points in KWU's season-ending loss to Sterling in the KCAC semifinals.
"I just think (Mureeba's) more of a scoring guard and when we brought LaMyah in last year we were really efficient offensively," Showman said. "One way we addressed our inefficient wing play was put one of our best guards on the wing.
"(Ricks) was playing starter's minutes last year anyway. She's got a great command of what we want to do and she's an explosive athlete. Things have really slowed down for her, things just click."
Rank (2.0 points per game), Mia Needles (JR/Highlands Ranch, Colo.) (4.5) and Lauren Brown (JR/Wylie, Texas) (2.3) also return. Needles started 18 games and Rank played in 26 games.
"(Rank) is someone who knows what she can do and what she can't do. And what she can do she does really well," Showman said. "We're going to do some different things offensively to get the ball in her hands in areas she can be successful."
Guards Kayleigh Hanzlick and Sydney Barrett (SO/Beloit, Kan.) return after seeing spot duty on the varsity last season.
Showman added two transfers who figure to have an immediate impact. Reagan Brown (FR/Fort Worth, Texas), a shooting guard, comes in from Northeastern Oklahoma State, and point guard Sydney Leeper (FR/Ingalls, Kan.) played at South Dakota School of Mines. Leeper is rehabbing a knee injury and making strides.
"I feel like this is the best of I've seen her in October than the entire preseason," Showman said of Leeper. "She's going to compete for some minutes. Reagan's a really great 3-point shooter."
Three freshmen have looked good as well – guards Catherine Bowman (FR/Bucklin, Kan.) and Angel Roman (FR/Jacksonville, Fla.), and post player Tylieea Wallace (FR/Overland Park, Kan.), who's coming off a knee injury she suffered last season.
"(Bowman) has been an absolute bright spot this fall," Showman said. "You always wonder how freshmen are going to come in and really understand and have things click. Everything's come together for Catherine. She's one of our hardest workers and that's a big reason why.
"(Wallace) has been fully cleared, she's getting back into shape, she's getting that timing down. Having her adjust to college speed has been a process going from missing out her senior year to now having to go against Kelcey and Caila Hill. But she's coming along.
"(Roman) is going to push at the point guard spot and just change how we defend in the full-court, change how we push in transition. We have some people who can really make us go, we'll have a different gear to us from that point guard spot."
Depth shouldn't be a concern.
"We'll have more depth this year and it will be quality depth," Showman said. "I feel like we make that first wave of substitutions there's going to be times when we're better with our second people coming in than with the starters."
Showman expects the KCAC to be competitive as ever.
"We've got better coaches, they've brought a better quality of player," he said. "I just think the KCAC is hands down one of the toughest leagues because of where we're at one through 12."
The Coyotes open the season with three games inside Mabee Arena – Columbia College on Oct. 29, University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy/St. Louis on Nov.r 5 and Evangel on Nov. 6. They begin KCAC play against McPherson on Nov. 20 in Mabee Arena.
"We've got experience, we've got veterans, we've got players that have won championships and gone to the national tournament, we've got people with different levels of experience that understand what it takes to go through a KCAC grind," Showman said.