Former Comet Gena Pelz Dalan listed among Top 40 Washington women’s basketball players

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

Football players are sometimes tasked to play on both sides of the ball … meaning playing both offense and defense.

There was an era in Iowa high school girls basketball when players had to choose — if not already chosen for them — between one or the other.

Gena Pelz Dalan found herself on the offensive side of the court during much of her career with the Charles City Comets.

“It was still six-on-six for most girl teams in the state,” said Dalan, a 1994 Charles City graduate. “That meant three offensive players from one team and three defensive players from the other team on one side of the court, and conversely on the other side of the court. Whenever there was a change of possession, the defensive team would whip the ball to the halfcourt line to an offensive teammate.”

Players, whether they were assigned to attack one goal or to defend the other, were not allowed to cross the halfcourt line. Fastbreaks were a felony offense.

“Some of the bigger schools in Des Moines and Iowa City played five-on-five fullcourt girls basketball, but the smaller schools like us continued to play six-on-six,” Dalan said. “I was one of the girls who played on offense.”

Dalan says it may have been a fortunate thing that fate had placed her on the offensive side of the court as it likely mitigated the degree of difficulty for the required adjustments that came when the state transitioned completely to five-on-five basketball for girls just in time for Dalan’s senior season.

“It was a big jump for everybody, but if you were a defensive player, you had to suddenly learn how to shoot, how to pass and how to dribble,” Dalan said. “As an offensive player, you had to learn how to play defense, but it was more of a mind set thing. It was a harder adjustment for defensive players.”

That one belated girls high school season where Dalan finally got the opportunity to play five-on-five basketball in front of a paying audience likely helped open the door for her to continue her career at the NCAA Division I level at the University of Washington.

“I don’t know if I would have gotten the chance to play (for the Huskies) or any other big school if I never played five-on-five,” Dalan said. “If colleges had any interest in you, many would ask you to send them some tape of you playing five-on-five somewhere. If you didn’t have one, they were usually no longer interested.”

As a Husky, Dalan garnered the nickname “Iron Horse” which she richly deserved. She played in all 118 games that encompassed her four-year career at Washington, starting in 91 of them while logging 2,853 minutes. The 6-foot-2 forward was a consistent double-double threat for the Huskies averaging as much as 10.1 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game her sophomore year.

Dalan’s 820 career rebounds placed her third all-time among Washington female basketball players, and — at the time — was the 16th time a woman player eclipsed 800 career rebounds in PAC 10 history.

Dalan played in three NCAA Tournaments with the Huskies while helping them advance to the Sweet 16 her freshman season in 1995.

To commemorate the 50th season in which the University of Washington has fielded a women’s basketball team, the Seattle Times compiled and published a list of Top 50 Husky Players (40) and Coaches (10) who were active during that half-century span.

Dalan was included in the list of Top 40 players.

“It just so happens that I’m getting close to my 50th birthday which coincides with the 50th anniversary,” Dalan said. “It’s amazing how time flies.”

Though Dalan has made a name for herself on the basketball court, the work she put into the sport away from the court has made herself renowned in the Huskies’ weight room. While training, Dalan broke many of the women’s lifting records at UW and was named the school’s Outstanding Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year (1997-98). In April 1998, National Strength and Conditioning Association awarded her All American Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year.

After taking her talents to the State of Washington via Charles City, Iowa, Dalan has stayed out west where she has helped raise a family and currently teaches science at William F. West High School in Chehalis, Wash.

She said she has coached some youth and school basketball after her playing days, but mainly became a parent-fan of the sport while cheering on her children, both of whom — like their mom — have been graced with the opportunity to play at the collegiate level.

Soren, her son, is a 6-11 sophomore center for Walla Walla University; Julia, her daughter, is a senior at W.F. West High and recently signed her letter of intent to play for the University of Portland.

Both of Dalan’s parents were longtime residents of Charles City before moving out of the area in 2002. Dalan still keeps up with what’s going on with her alma mater, and was a little dismayed about the Comets not playing a varsity girls schedule this season.

“But I hear it’s happening everywhere,” she said. “It’s just hard to get kids to go out for sports and stay out.

“Maybe there’s too much pressure … kids being pushed too hard to get athletic scholarships. But when I used to play, it was about having fun … being with my friends … building relationships and taking on challenges.”