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Grand View University is home to 1,874 students, 40 academic majors, over 40 clubs and organizations, and 26 top-notch athletic teams. One of the teams flying the Viking flag is the Women’s Basketball team. In the 2022-2023 season alone the Women’s Basketball Team has amassed 19 wins, averaging 72.4 points per game, a free throw percentage of 71.4, and averages 34.8 rebounds and 14.5 assists per game, all within a season of momentous change in the player’s roster and the coach’s roster, too.  

      This season marks the first time Head Coach Jasmine Stohr has been at the helm of the Grand View Women’s basketball team. Stohr comes to GVU after assistant coaching at Briar Cliff University, but as Stohr tells it, this was not her first rodeo.  

      “About six years ago, I came through a sixth-grade boys’ team to start with, and it was awesome, and it kind of reignited my passion for coaching. Then I went to the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana, and then onto Idaho State, and then Briar Cliff for two years.” 

      While at Briar Cliff, Stohr was a part of the coaching staff that took their basketball team from notable to nationally ranked, and she hopes to do the same now that she is a Viking.  

       “You know there’s a rich history, which I just enjoy being a part of and being able to add to and being a part of making my own history with the group that we have.” Stohr also said that the team “would love to make deep national tournament runs, and that was one of the goals this year is let’s make it to nationals and use that as our push to success night in, night out.”  

      Stohr is not alone in crafting a new vision for the basketball team either. Along with this being her first year as head coach, she is also joined by a new assistant coach and graduate assistant. There are also some fresh faces on the team, too. After the 2021-22 season, the Women’s Basketball team graduated a lot of talented seniors, and underclassmen had their chance to step up. One of those underclassmen is junior point guard Ellie Rengstorff who can attest to Coach Stohr’s claims of the many adjustments the team has had to make.  

      “[This is the] first year with Jasmine and she’s been great. Personally, I played less minutes last year because we had Maddie, who was our point guard, and a fantastic leader. I’ve kind of had to fill her shoes a little bit. Jasmine has helped so much just with calming nerves and being an open communicator and a great coach on and off the court.” 

      One of the goals the Women’s Basketball team tries to pursue off the court is their commitment to academic success. Using study tables for freshmen and transfers to help acclimate to the fast-paced life of a student-athlete, and just being able to help each other teammate to teammate. Rengstorff also has some advice for those looking to enter collegiate athletics. 

      “Make sure you get to all your classes because it’s really easy to skip. Make sure, if you have an extra hour of downtime to study.” Rengstorff also said that time management is key. “I guess just learning time management and what works best for you. It’s a little different for every girl on the team.”    

      Rengstorff was not the only player who had advice, sophomore guard, Ella Larsen, said that an email is a fantastic way to get ahead.  

      “It’s important to reach out before everything gets piled onto you,” said Larsen. “College is definitely way different than high school so it’s hard to get used to, so just asking for a helping hand is really important.”  

      While the team loves to win, they are no strangers to losses, but while many might think of a loss as a failure, the girls on the Women’s Basketball team see this as one of their driving factors.  

      “You look at like Central Methodist and you look at Clark, they’re top 10 teams in the nation, and we’ve competed with them, yeah, a loss is a loss, right? But the fact that we’re competing with those teams gives the team confidence to give everything that we’ve got against any opponent.,” said Stohr.   

      Despite all the wins and the losses, the long bus rides, and the crazy schedules in the end the girls are all family. They love to hang out, make jokes, and support one another through “thick or thin” as Rengstorff puts it. 

      “We aren’t the fastest. We aren’t the strongest but win games because we do the little things right. And we always do things for each other because that’s going to leave a winning legacy behind.”  

      A legacy is a tricky thing to craft, and it takes time and effort, but if the team keeps doing the trivial things right, there is no doubt that their legacy will be set in stone for years to come.