AKRON – Tippecanoe Valley girls basketball coach Chris Kindig has seen his team become more defensive this season.

All in a good way of course.

The Vikings are 13-2 thanks in large part to an improvement on the defensive end of the floor.

Kindig, whose team finished 13-7 last season, has not been surprised by the success of his squad.

“I’m not necessarily surprised because these girls put in a lot of time in the offseason,” Kindig said. “We had some tough games early on and I thought that it was important that we got off to a good start and we did.

“Our defense is the reason why we are 13-2. It’s been the one constant for us this year and has helped us win some games. We’re relied on our defense all year. Last year at this time we were 9-6. The difference for us this year has been on the defensive end.”

The Vikings are allowing just 40 points-per-game right now. Valley allowed 49 ppg. last season.

Valley had won nine in a row before a 61-55 home loss Tuesday night to possible sectional foe NorthWood. The Vikings, who are 3-0 in the Three Rivers Conference, has a much bigger game in the immediate future as Rochester comes calling Saturday night for a huge league clash.

The Zebras are 15-2 overall and  4-0 in the TRC. Rochester, which is coming off a 45-41 loss at Bremen Tuesday night, has beaten the Vikings the past three seasons. Coach Tony Stesiak’s squad averages 57 ppg., while allowing just 38 ppg.

“Saturday’s game in the regular season scheme of things is much bigger for us than the NorthWood game,” said Kindig prior to playing NorthWood Tuesday night. “Winning the TRC is one of our team goals. It’s a tough .” league this year.

“We will need to step up versus Rochester. We will find out Saturday night if we are contenders or pretenders. Rochester is a very good team.”

Valley and Rochester are the only teams still unbeaten in TRC play. Valley last won the league title in 2011-12 when four TRC teams all finished at 5-2 to share the conference crown.

The Vikings have been led by sophomore standout Anne Secrest. The 6-0 center has improved greatly from a year ago and is averaging a double-double per game at around 17 points and 10 rebounds per contest.

“Anne really needs to get more shots for us,”  noted Kindig. “She’s shooting 69 percent from the field. She is patient, has a good feel around the basket and her shooting range is better this year.”

Valley has gotten strong play from Caylie Teel and Taylor Trippiedi, the team’s two seniors. Also key have been the efforts of juniors Karis Tucker and Brynda Krueger and sophomores Meredith Brouyette and Hannah Dunn.

“The thing is that there is no weak link on defense in the seven we play,” said Kindig. “That’s the difference this year.

“Krueger has been a huge factor for us and Dunn has played really well. As a group, everyone has improved in some way for us.”

“Our goal is to get better and we know that this week is a good gauge of where we are at.”

No doubt about that.