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Last May, Stimmel was hired to replace Dan Messman as the Cardinals head women’s basketball and golf coach after holding the same positions for two years at King College in Bristol, Tenn.
Stimmel will make his SMU debut on the women’s basketball sideline this weekend at the Bon Appetite Classic in Portland, Ore.
Messman left SMU late last spring after compiling a 56-47 overall record through four seasons.
The Cardinals struggled to a 10-15 overall record and finished 10th in the 12-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at 6-14 in Messman’s final season,
“We’re not going to have more talent than most teams we play,” Stimmel said. “We need to learn to play as a team, have different players step up on any given night and just outwork people.”
The Cardinals lost Ashley Luehmann, their fourth all-time leading scorer and three-time all-conference selection, to graduation — although Luehmann will stay on the Cardinals’ bench as an assistant.
SMU’s top returning scorer, junior forward Jessica Weisbrod, averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds last season.
“(Weisbrod) can step out on the perimeter and handle it pretty well,” Stimmel said. “But she’s also very good on the block and rebounding the basketball.”
Stimmel wants the Cardinals’ offense to run through Weisbrod and sophomore center Danielle Dehning (6.2 points, 5.6 rebounds), and consist mainly of half-court sets.
“Danielle (Dehning) is a big, physical post player,” Stimmel said. “She doesn’t have a lot of finesse, but she has some good post moves and she’s just going to power it over top of you to score.”
Dehning and Weisbrod finished first and second on the team in rebounds last season.
Stimmel said the key for the Cardinals — who were picked to finish 10th in this year’s MIAC preseason poll — will be hustle and defense.
“People might overlook us, or not really expect much of us,” Stimmel said. “But we think we’ve worked harder than a lot of teams have, and because of that, we can be successful.”
Weisbrod, Dehning, juniors Amy Saufferer and Kelly Tanke and sophomore Alyse Coates will start the opener for the Cardinals.
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