Independent file photo SMSU’s Erin Baxter drives past a University of Sioux Falls defender during their Dec. 16, 2017 game. The Mustangs open the 2018-19 season on Friday against Fort Hays State.

MARSHALL – Last season, the Southwest Minnesota State University women’s basketball team had to rely on its youthful factor with the majority of their players seeing collegiate action for the first time.

With a year of experience now under their belts, the Mustangs will look to take another step forward under coach Tom Webb, who is heading into his third season with the program.

“It’s good, it’s nice to be older,” Webb said. “It’s good to have returners in sophomores, juniors and seniors, kids that have been in the program a couple of years. It’s exciting.”

The Mustangs showed improvement in the 2017-18 season, increasing their win total on their way to a 5-21 record. With nearly the entire team returning from a season ago, the Mustangs will rely on a large group of underclassmen to shoulder the workload.

Leading the charge will be the now-sophomore class that accounts for eight of the 14 players on SMSU’s roster. Meleah Reinhart (7.5 points per game, 22 3-pointers last season) and Sadie Stelter (8.5 ppg, 50 assists) will anchor the backcourt while Erin Baxter (10.6 ppg) and Abuk Akoi (5.2 rebounds per game, 49 blocks) spread out the offense in the frontcourt.

Webb said the ability to show growth and improvement will be important for the young group and it starts with playing at a consistent level in practice.

“I think it shows up in practice first, they’re more consistent in practice because they understand how important practice is and they get in and compete right away,” Webb said. “And then we need them to be more consistent; it’s hard because even as sophomores, there’s some inconsistencies and they can’t afford to be inconsistent because that’s the majority of our team.”

Rounding out the sophomore class includes Taylor Bonestroo, Sara Teske and Mateya Hutton.

The Mustangs have a few upperclassmen to provide a veteran presence on the court, including juniors Caleigh Rodning (12.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Emily Buysse (19 3-pointers) along with her sister Sarah (5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), who is the lone senior.

Webb said Sarah has shown great leadership for the program and will be a strong asset in leading the younger players.

“She does a great job and she’s just a fabulous kid too,” Webb said. “She’s a great leader, a great teammate, she competes all the time and she’s been in the system for three years, so for her, she’s got a great advantage in understanding what we do and how we do it.”

SMSU also features a handful of newcomers this season, including freshmen Jenna Borchers, Olivia Drummer and Lily Schoknecht along with sophomore Morgan Frank, who comes to the Mustangs after spending last season at North Iowa Area Community College.

“Jenna is a kid from Iowa and has been doing really well and has been very tough. She’s a good player and shoots it well and she’s got a good feel for the game. Both Lily and Olivia, Lily’s going to be a little bit behind Abuk, which is hard when you’re playing behind a sophomore like Abuk, and then Olivia is going to be redshirting and we knew that at this point coming in, just giving her time to grow and I think she’s got a bright future at the point,” Webb said. “Morgan’s really competitive; she wants to be a winner and wants to learn everything and wants to know it now. She’s been a bright light to our program and she’s a good kid who competes and I’m really excited to see where she’ll go at the end of the year.”

Webb said their expectations are to take it one day at a time and the rest will fall into place.

“We want to be 1-0 every day; that’s all we’re going to worry about is just today. I don’t think you want to get too far ahead of yourself and I think you want to stay right where you need to be and compete every day and the rest will take care of itself,” Webb said. “As you age as a program and mature as a person, you realize that you just need to take care of today and if we do that, we’re in great shape. I really enjoy this group and we’re excited about it, so now we just need to get it out and play.”

SMSU starts its season this weekend with a pair of road matchups in the MIAA/NSIC Challenge. The Mustangs will open their schedule against Fort Hays State (Kan.) on Friday at 7 p.m. before facing Missouri Western State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Then SMSU heads home for a large portion of its opening games, playing eight straight on its home floor that stretches into mid-December.

Webb said it’ll be a nice feeling to start the majority of their season at home and play in front of their fans and have that comfortability to begin the year.

“It’s huge. We play Fort Hays and they’ll be probably be Top 20 and were picked No. 2 in their league behind the team that won it all in Central Missouri. We’ll go up there and play two really good teams and then come home for a really long time,” Webb said. “That’ll be nice to get in your own gym, your own bed, your own dorm room and just get comfortable and then at the same time they can eat and rest and get ready to go. I don’t think I’ve ever had an experience like this before so we’ll see what it’s like.”

Webb said there’s a lot of unknown when it comes their team and its potential and is looking forward to taking the next step together.

“The unknown. This team is unknown and our potential is unknown, so it’s fun sometimes,” Webb said. “I’m excited about the unknown.”