The Peacock women's basketball team has received commitments from seven young women that will continue their academics and athletics at Upper Iowa University beginning next fall. The group of seven includes two transfers and five incoming freshman. The class is Head Coach Micha Thompson's first full class of recruits since taking over late in the recruiting process last summer. There is plenty of size and length with the class with the smallest of the guards measuring in at 5'7". Two more guards list out at 5'9" and another at 5'10", while the posts will dramatically increase UIU's wingspan in the paint at 6', 6'3" and 6'4".

Amanda Cartney will transfer to UIU for her junior season after two seasons at Des Moines Area Community College and Ally Fink is tranferring as a redshirt freshman after a season of practice at Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo. The five freshmen include Natalie Dinius of Canby, Minn., Savannah Domeyer of Colesburg, Iowa, Emma Gaber of Bondurant, Iowa, Courtney Schnoor of Camanche, Iowa and Madison Smith from Ballard, Iowa.

"We are extremely proud of our inaugural signing class," said Thompson. "These quality young women will build the foundation of the future success of Upper Iowa Women's Basketball. They possess exceptional athleticism, talent and a strong work ethic.  Not only are they established, high-caliber athletes, these seven are distinguished leaders in the classroom and the community."

Upper Iowa returns senior Ashley Ray, juniors Blair Klostermann, Haley Martin, Ashley Rosenstiel, and Casey Miles, as well as sophomore Bekka Pierson to the court for the 2017-18 season.

Notes on all seven future Peacocks are below in alphabetical order.
 

	Amanda Cartney – 5-10 – Guard – Des Moines Area CC – Hudson HS – Hudson, Iowa -transfers from Des Moines Area Community College after two years -averaged 10.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore after notching 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a freshman -handed out 203 assists over two years with DMACC -named to 1st Team All-Region as a sophomore and 2nd Team All-Region Academic team as a freshman -helped lead Bears to the Region XI semi-finals, a 27-5 record overall and a 12-2 ICCAC mark as a sophomore and a 26-7 record overall and a 10-4 record in the conference as a freshman -led Hudson to a 16-8 record as a senior averaging 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game -earned All-Conference 1st Team honors in basketball as a senior and was a two-time selection to the All-Conference 2nd Team as a sophomore and junior -named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association (IGCA) Class 2A All-Northeast District Team as a senior and to the Iowa Class 2A All-State 3rd Team as a junior -earned IGCA Class 2A All-Northeast District honors and the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) All-Region Team as a junior -competed in cross country and track at Hudson qualifying for the Iowa State Track Meet in the 4x800-meter relay and the 1,500-meter run -earned the Academic Achievement award from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) and has been named to the Silver Honor Roll throughout her high school career -played at Hudson with current Peacock Casey Miles
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	Natalie Dinius – 5-9 – Guard – Canby High – Canby, Minn. -led Canby to a 22-5 record and the Minnesota Sub-Section Finals as a senior -scored her 1,000th point during as a junior for the Lancers -named to All-Conference girls basketball team as a sophomore, junior and senior -earned MVP and Co-MVP honors for Lancers basketball and MVP twice of Canby cross country team -earned a spot on multiple Canby Honor Rolls -named to Minnesota All-State Academic team in cross country -daughter of Gwen and Floyd Evens and Jim Dinius
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	Savannah Domeyer – 6-3 – Center – Clayton Ridge HS – Guttenberg, Iowa -lettered 14 times at Clayton Ridge in four sports; basketball (4), volleyball (4), softball (5) and track (1) -led the Eagles to a 64-26 record over the last four years while scoring 1,184 points, pulling down 710 rebounds and blocking 305 shots -averaged 18.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.5 blocks (4th most in Iowa) per game as a senior to lead Clayton Ridge to an 18-5 record -basketball honors included All-District and All-Upper Iowa Conference 1st Team as a junior and senior and 2nd Team as a freshman and sophomore -other athletic honors included All-UIC 2nd Team in softball (junior) and volleyball (senior) as well as an honorable mention in -volleyball (sophomore) -member of National Honor Society -daughter of Kim and Terry Domeyer -majoring in elementary education
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	Ally Fink – 6-4 – Center – Maryville University – Plainfield South HS – Planfield, Ill. -transfers to Upper Iowa from Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo. -led Plainfield South in points and rebounds as a junior and senior -named Most Improved Player at PSHS -recorded highest free throw percentage at PSHS as a junior and senior -daughter of Bill and Debbie Fink -majoring in biology/pre-med
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	Emma Gaber – 5-9 – Guard – Dowling Catholic HS – Bondurant, Iowa -starter on 2016-17 Iowa Class 5A State Qualifier at Dowling Catholic -named All-CIML Western Division as a junior and All-Racoon River Conference as a sophomore -qualified for the Iowa State Track and Field Meet in high jump as a junior -named as captain for senior season at Dowling Catholic -played at Dowling Catholic as a junior and senior after playing at Bondurant-Farrar HS as a freshman and sophomore -averaged 11.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore at BFHS -averaged 10.1 points and 1.7 rebounds per game as a junior at DCHS; team posted a 15-8 record -averaged 4.9 points and 1.1 rebounds per game as a senior at DCHS; team posted a 19-5 mark -member of National Honor Society -played AAU for Iowa Attack with fellow future Peacock, Madison Smith -daughter of Cheryl and Marc Gaber
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	Courtney Schnoor – 6-0 – Center – Camanche HS – Camanche, Iowa -named to IGCA Class 3A All-State 2nd Team -named to All-River Valley Conference Team (basketball) and All-RVC Elite Team (volleyball) -led team to a 16-8 record as a senior and a 14-9 mark as a junior -averaged 18.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist per game as a senior -averaged 12.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists per game as a junior -named to Academic All-Conference Team in all four years (volleyball, basketball, track and field) -member of National Honor Society -daughter of Martin and Melissa Schnoor
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	Madison Smith – 5-7 – Guard – Ballard HS – Huxley, Iowa -named to IGCA Class 4A All-State 3rd Team and All-Central District as a senior -named to All-Racoon River Conference 1st Team as a senior -led Bombers to a 16-6 overall record and a 12-2 mark in the RRC -helped Ballard to a 38-8 record over the last two seasons -averaged 7.3 points and 6.7 assists per game as a senior after 7.1 points and 6.3 assists per game as a junior -played AAU for Iowa Attack with fellow future Peacock, Emma Gaber -daughter of Fred and Carrie Smith -majoring in sports management

The Peacocks were 4-23 overall and 4-18 in NSIC games during the 2016-17 season. The conference wins included victories over Southwest Minnesota State, Bemidji State University, Minot State University and Concordia University, St. Paul. A bright spot during the season came in the form of Klostermann, who was tabbed as an All-NSIC First Team performer. The honor marked the first Peacock on the All-NSIC team since Whitney Kieffer following her junior season in 2013-14. The Dyersville, Iowa product earned the honor after scoring 19.1 points per conference game finishing highest among all NSIC scorers. For the season, Klostermann started and played in 24 games scoring 423 points while averaging 17.6 points per game; her first season at Upper Iowa ended due to an injury at home in the team's upset win over Concordia-St. Paul.