IU Columbus’ Abby Fleetwood dribbles up the court during the inaugural home game for the IU Columbus women’s basketball team against Kuyper College Nov. 14, 2024, at NexusPark.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Reena Haliburton has had to hit the ground running after being named IU Columbus women’s basketball head coach about a month ago.
Haliburton came on as an assistant in late March, about a month after the Crimson Pride had concluded a 2-25 season under Dana Dunson in their inaugural year. When Dunson and IUC parted ways last month, Haliburton was there to step into the head coaching role.
“Going in blindsided, not knowing really what the conference brings is going to be challenging for me as a head coach,” Haliburton said. “Just making the adjustment with us having (nine) freshmen, that’s going to be a challenge, intertwining them with upperclassmen on the floor, seeing who can play well together. Those returners, it’s challenging for them because they’re practicing and playing with players that they haven’t.”
Amaya Collins, a 5-foot-7 sophomore from Frankton, is the leading returning scorer at 12.7 points a game. Abby Fleetwood, a 5-9 junior from Indian Creek, added 10.3 points and team-highs of 7.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.7 blocks.
Isyss Donelson (7.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg), a 5-7 sophomore from Warren Central; Tatum McFarland (5.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg), a 5-8 junior from Charlestown; and Jenna Bowers (3.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg), a 5-6 sophomore from Medora, also saw plenty of action last season.
“What I’m most excited for is to play as a team and the talent we have on the team,” McFarland said.
Among the freshman on the IUC team are 5-8 Hadassah Hurt and 5-10 Emma Beaver from Columbus North and 5-7 Maddie McIntosh from Jennings County. They are joined by 5-3 Brooklyn McConnell (Greenfield-Central), 5-9 Nola Linson (Southport), 5-10 Morgan Montgomery (Brownsburg), 5-10 Taelynn Swartz (Centerville), 5-5 Olivia Hunter (Centerville)and 5-11 Samone Rutland (Pike).
“My freshman class is pretty solid,” Haliburton said. “They’ll bring a lot of help to the returners.”
The Crimson Pride also have a pair of transfers in 5-7 junior Jaylee Hubble (Lapel) and 6-0 junior Ryleigh Anderson (Paoli).
“What I’m most excited about this season is being able to compete with the energy we have and how we all get along as teammates,” Hubble said.
“I look forward to seeing the hard work that they bring this season,” Haliburton added. “It’s just going to be a team to watch. Our goal is to win over 50 percent of our games.”
Haliburton said she will use an up-tempo style of play.
“We’re a small team as opposed to everybody else in our conference that we play against, so we’re going to be run-and-gun; and defense, we’re going to work harder on defense than we are on offense because the offense will come,” Haliburton said.
A Louisville native, Haliburton played at Saint Catherine College, an NAIA Division I program in Kentucky, before playing semi-professionally for the Louisville Fillies. She has coached at the middle school and grade school level and AAU basketball since 2014.
“The first word that comes to mind is, ‘Passion,’” IUC athletics director Zach McClellan said. “She’s passionate about our school, she’s passionate about the players, she’s passionate about the job and when you’re staring at the schedule we play, you have to be passionate about what you’re doing if you’re going to go out there and prepare your team to win the game. Also dependability, she’s there before the players show up, she waits until the practice is over to leave, so that dependability I think leads to trust, which ultimately is trust with the (athletics) department, trust with the players, trust with the school. She’s been a great addition since she’s been here, and I’m excited to see what that passion and trust translates to on the court.”
