Anklam Striving to be Leader of UWSP Women’s Basketball
Courtesy of Jack McLaughlin The women's basketball team huddles during a game.

Anklam Striving to be Leader of UWSP Women’s Basketball

Lauren Anklam, junior guard, entered the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point three years ago with high expectations for herself.

Now, as she enters her third season with the women’s basketball team led by head coach Shirley Egner, Anklam is embracing her ever-evolving role on the team.

“Her growth from her freshman season to now has vastly improved and is so enjoyable to watch. You can tell she has really embraced being a leader of this team by improving her voice not only in games but every day at practice,” Egner said.

Anklam was a First Team All-WIAC player last season, an accomplishment she said she undoubtedly would like to duplicate.

“As a guard I am always trying to get in the lane and score or set up a teammate. Sometimes I pushed it too far and got a bunch of offensive fouls, so I worked on basic footwork stuff to prevent some of those turnovers,” Anklam said.

Anklam has accumulated her fair share of individual accomplishments, but what makes her stand out with her coaches and teammates is her constant mentality of wanting to win and being the best teammate possible.

“Physically Lauren was ready to compete at this level right out of high school, but she always was the ultimate team player willing to sacrifice for whatever we needed as a team,” Egner said.

Anklam has moved over from the two guard to running more of a point guard this season, a move she anticipates will help her grow as a player.

“I am playing more point guard this year. Coach is still asking me to score but to be a better decision maker and get the team involved as well,” Anklam said.

Egner seems to have been about as good of a mentor on and off the court as anyone could ask, a quality that Anklam takes advantage of everyday.

“Coach Egner has helped me improve as a person off the court, which then gives me a ton of confidence on the court,” Anklam said. “She pushes me to maximize my skill set. She is the most intelligent basketball mind of anyone I know, and I learn something new from her every day.”

Throughout her first two years, Anklam has played in every game. The return of fellow guard Autumn Hennes from last season’s injury has Anklam very excited going into the conference season.

“Having her back is so huge for us. She is so good at just simply putting the ball in the bucket,” Anklam said. “Just seeing her back on the court after what she went through opens our eyes to enjoy it and realize it could be gone in a second.”

Coach Egner has been around a lot of players as this is her 27th season at UWSP and said Anklam has the qualities she looks for in a player.

“The most successful players I have had an opportunity to work with buy into our system, put the team before themselves and a desire to get better every offseason. Lauren possesses all three,” Egner said.

When asked about what her expectations were coming into the season, Anklam personified coach Egner’s qualities with a team theme.

“We want to win the WIAC Conference Championship and make the NCAA Tournament. We have a lot of work to do, but we are moving in the right direction and I’d like to be a big part of it,” Anklam said.

Charles Klumb

Sports Reporter

cklum166@uwsp.edu

About pointer

Avatar

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*