OPENING TIP: The Snow College women's basketball team is set to kick off its 2022-23 regular season campaign by hosting the Snow Classic Friday and Saturday in Ephraim. The Badgers will play Central Wyoming Community College Friday followed by a match with Casper College Saturday.
The Badgers enter the season under head coach Zu Grinsell, who is in her second season as head coach of Snow College. She led the Badgers to a 17-15 overall record during the 2021-22 season. Snow College finished the year with an 11-7 mark within the Scenic West Athletic Conference, which was good enough for third place in the conference.
The Badgers made a deep run in the SWAC Tournament defeating Colorado Northwestern Community College 77-53 in the first round. Snow College turned around and beat No. 2 seeded Salt Lake Community College 64-56 in the semi-final round. The Badgers then fell in the SWAC championship to the College of Southern Idaho 63-57.
BY THE NUMBERS: Snow College averaged 62.8 points per game as a team last season while holding opponents to just 53.6 points per game, which was good enough for 13
th in the country.
As a team, the Badgers shot 41 percent from the field and 27 percent from deep on nearly 14 attempts per game. Snow College outrebounded opponents by a margin of 8.7 rebounds per game.
Turnovers were an issue for the Badgers last season averaging 19.5 giveaways per game. They sported a mere 0.7 assist-to-turnover ratio and had a -1.8 turnover margin. The Badgers were pesky defensively, however grabbing over 11 steals per game, which landed them just outside the top 30 in the nation.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: The Badgers will return four members of last year's team namely
Samiana Suguturaga,
Katie Trail,
Jessica Lange, and
Brandi White. The foursome averaged 13.7 points per game cumulatively led by Suguturaga who poured in 6.7 points per game in 16 starts a year ago. The Badgers lost their top four scorers from last season.
Alongside Suguturaga, Trail, Lange, and White, Snow College features two other Sophomores in
Kate Robinson and Regan Yamauchi. Yamauchi is in her second season as a member of the women's basketball team. She was also a member of the 2019-20 squad where she averaged 8.4 points per game in 29 starts. She shot 37 percent from the field and 35 percent from deep that season.
The Badgers will bring in seven freshmen to the 2022-23 team including
Epa Tia (Stansbury HS),
Marika Collins (Judge Memorial HS),
Grayce Glover (Kanab HS),
Enid Vaifanua (Desert Hills HS),
Emily Evans (American Fork HS),
Ainsley Thurber (Stansbury HS), and
Emmie Barnes (Cokeville HS).
HISTORY WITH CWC: The Badgers have owned the matchup with the Rustlers. They are 8-0 all-time against CWC with their most recent matchup being a 61-36 victory Jan. 30, 2021, in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Snow College averages 66.5 points per game against the Rustlers. Their biggest victory came in a 91-40 win Nov. 8, 2017, in Riverton, Wyoming.
The Rustlers are coming off a 2021-22 season that saw them go 6-21 overall and 2-8 within conference play. They averaged just 57.1 points per game and shot just 37 percent from the field. They ended the season losing six of their final seven games with the lone victory coming against Northwest College Feb. 21.
HISTORY WITH CASPER: The Badgers have a bumpy history with the T-birds. They are 2-8 all-time against CC having lost four out of their last five against them. The Badgers were victorious in their most recent meeting. It was a thrilling 69-68 victory that was clinched on a last-second shot by
Kylie Larsen. Snow College's only other victory came in a 59-51 win Nov. 17, 2017, in Casper Wyoming.
CC comes into the matchup following a 2021-22 season that saw them go 28-5 overall with a perfect 10-0 record in conference play. The T-birds won the Region 9 tournament defeating Eastern Wyoming College 71-57 before their season ended abruptly in the first round of the NJCAA National Tournament to Hutchinson Community College.
They enter 2022-23 ranked 13
th in the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Preseason Poll. Snow College will square off with the T-Birds twice this season with the second matchup to come Nov. 25 in Casper, Wyoming.
BREAKING DOWN THE SCHEDULE: The Badgers play a total of 30 games this season with 11 home games and 19 games on the road. As mentioned, they will play two games against CC, who is ranked in the top 25. These will serve as the only non-conference matches against opponents in the preseason rankings.
The Badgers will open up SWAC play Dec. 2 and 3 with a pair of games against the College of Southern Nevada. Their first home SWAC match will take place Dec. 7 against Salt Lake Community College. The Bruins were ranked 18
th in the preseason poll. Snow College will play SLCC a total of three times this season with two games coming at home.
Snow College will face the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Jan. 5 before welcoming them to Ephraim for two games Feb. 2 and 15. The Golden Eagles are ranked 10
th in the preseason poll after finishing last season with a 30-3 overall record and a 17-1 mark within the SWAC that won them not only the regular season SWAC Title, but the SWAC Tournament Title as well.
The Badgers will play six of its last seven matches of the season at home. They will end the regular season against Colorado Northwestern Community College Feb. 25 and will enter the Region 18 Tournament beginning March 2.
COACHING STAFF: Grinsell comes to Snow by way of Bonneville High School (Ogden, Utah), where she spent four seasons as an assistant coach to Tyler Dunyon. During her time with Bonneville, she was instrumental in helping the Lady Lakers win back-to-back Region 11 Championships in 2018 and 2019, and advance deep into the state tournament.
Grinsell, originally from Spring Creek, Nev., began her college playing career at CSI in 2012. During her time at CSI, she helped the Golden Eagles claim back-to-back regular-season SWAC Championships as well as two Region 18 Titles, which also meant two trips to the NJCAA National Tournament (2013, 2014). In high school, Grinsell was a two-sport athlete at Spring Creek High School, where she earned four letters in basketball and three in softball. She led her basketball team to three state championships and one state runner-up. As a senior, she was crowned player of the game for her performance in the state championship. On the softball field, she helped her team to a league championship in 2010.
After graduating from CSI, Grinsell continued her education at Weber State University, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in 2016 with an emphasis in Physical Education/Coaching. Subsequently, she received a master's degree in Sports Performance and Conditioning from Southern Utah University in 2018.
She is joined on the sideline by
Jaxon Barlow who is in his first season as assistant coach. Barlow is a graduate of Bournemouth University and played for Westminster College between 2019 and 2021.
UP NEXT: The Badgers will head out onto the road for the first time this season. They will play a trio of matches at the Gila Monsters Tournament in Thatcher, Arizona where they will face off against Cochise College, host school Eastern Arizona College, and Pima Community College.
Cochise finished last season with an 11-12 overall record and a 9-9 mark within conference play. EAC played to a 27-5 overall mark in 2021-22 with a 16-4 mark within Arizona Community College Athletic Conference play and finished the season losing to Arizona Western College in the Region 1 Final. PCC was 20-11 overall and 12-8 within the ACCAC.
The Badgers will square off with Cochise beginning Thursday at 5:30 p.m., EAC Friday at 5:30 p.m., and PCC Saturday at 12 noon. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.
