Kelsey Goff, who is entering her third year as head coach of the Melcher-Dallas Saints, has continued to seek improvement for her senior-heavy roster. Even though her team’s win total tripled last season, she still looks for improvement in free throw shooting and taking care of the ball.

 

“I’m hoping it’s going to be our free-throw shooting percentage,” Goff stated. “We’ve been working on that as I believe it’s very important we improve on that as close games, losing by five to six points when we missed ten to twelve free throws. It makes a huge difference.”

 

The team’s leading free-throw shooter last year was Lily Bennett, who graduated. She shot 61% from the line. The other four Saints’ starters, who are all returning from last season, averaged a combined 45% from the free-throw line. The team as a whole shot 46.4% from the line, which was 3rd-worst in the conference, only better than Ankeny Christian and Mormon Trail.

 

“Just turnovers, making sure we don’t turn the ball over as much,” Goff explained. “That does give us extra opportunities to make those shots as we are not a good shooting team. We have to be able to take care of the ball so we can have those extra possessions.”

 

Even though Melcher-Dallas had the fewest turnovers in the conference per game at only 11, Goff values extra possessions and increased opportunities.