Women's Basketball
Your 2024-25 Skyhawk Women's Basketball
The 2024-2025 Sauk Valley Women’s Basketball team is excited to have the Sauk Valley’s best talent returning and newcomers to make the team that much better.
The Skyhawks return six players from last season's Arrowhead Conference Championship team. Returning players include Harvest Day, Abby Knipple (Dixon), Quinc Haverland (Eastland), Hadley Lutz (Oregon), Lindee Popper (Polo) and Shelby Veltrop (Morrison). The newcomers to the program will add great depth and a shooting presence. They are Addie McCombs and Kirra Gibson (Sterling), Gabi Abell and Hannah Huisman (Erie-Prophetstown), and Taylor Jahn (Ashton Franklin Center). We are excited to see them mesh together and compete at an incredibly high level this season.
Our returners are led by four starters, who should be a huge asset this season. Shelby Veltrop was an Honorable Mention All-American and the Arrowhead Conference Player of the Year last season, and we hope for her to continue to build her game this season and lead us to great success. Harvest Day was a first-team All-Region player whose game grew immensely last season. We hope the growth is immeasurable this season and she competes with the best of our opponents. Abby Knipple held down our point guard position last season, allowing all our successes to happen. Her defensive presence on the floor is truly something to see. Lindee Poper finished 5th in NJCAA Division 1 in field goal percentage last season, and we look forward to her making an even more significant impact this season with her tremendous shot. Quince Haverland has become our team's incredible leader, and we look forward to her presence in the post being even more impactful this season. Hadley Lutz has the most athletic ability on our team, and her game has shown such an improvement that she will surprise our opponents with what she brings to our team. All of our returners know what it takes to be successful, and we expect that to impact this season significantly.
Every one of our newcomers brings a little something to the program. Taylor Jahn has an uncanny ability to make shots from all over the floor. Her ability to spread the floor will greatly impact our team. Addie McCombs is also a great shooter who will run the show for us from the point guard position. Hannah Huisman is a terrific defender; her shooting ability will surprise many of our opponents. Gabi Abell is the jack of all trades. She can bang in the post with girls much bigger than her, then step out to the three-point line and bury it. Kirra Gibson may be the fastest post player this season, and her ability to outrun her defense will be a huge key to her success. All newcomers desire to play well and have a tremendous competitive drive, allowing our team to be even more successful.
The Skyhawks are very excited about the season and feel they have an excellent opportunity for success. Meshing all the newcomers with the veterans will be a huge key, and the ceiling is very high for this group of young ladies. It will be a great team to watch and see grow as the season progresses!