Independent file photo SMSU’s Meleah Reinhart drives past a Bemidji State University defender during their Feb. 2 game.

BURNSVILLE — The Southwest Minnesota State women’s basketball team was picked to finish sixth in the South Division and ninth overall in the annual 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll, released on Thursday.

MSU Moorhead was picked as the preseason overall favorite earning 217 points, with nine first-place votes (coaches can’t vote for their own team). Sioux Falls follows close behind, slated at second with 214 points and six first-place votes. Minnesota Duluth is third with 194 points and one first place vote, followed by Augustana (169) and Minnesota State (156) to complete the top-five favorites.

St. Cloud State (155) was picked to finish sixth overall, followed by UMary (140), and Winona State (125), then comes SMSU at ninth with 107 points, followed by Concordia-St. Paul (104), Wayne State (103), and Northern State (82), for the top-12. Rounding out the poll is Bemidji State slated 13th with 49 points, Minnesota Crookston with 48, Minot State with 40, and Upper Iowa with 17.

Sioux Falls earned 49 points with seven first place votes to lead the NSIC South Division poll, while Augustana follows with 39 points for second. Minnesota State comes in third with one first place vote and 35 points, followed by Winona State (25), SMSU (21), Concordia-St. Paul (20), and finishing with Upper Iowa with seven.

Senior guard Kaely Hummel from Sioux Falls was chosen as the NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year.

MSU Moorhead was also chosen as the favorite to win the NSIC North Division, as well as overall, with 48 points and six first place votes. Senior guard Megan Hintz was named the NSIC North Preseason Player of the Year.

SMSU senior forward Caleigh Rodning was named a “Player to Watch” in the NSIC this season. Rodning, a native of Shakopee, started all 27 games a season ago and led the team in scoring and rebounding with 13.5 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Rodning ranks third in the SMSU all-time career books in free throws after going making 111 out of 129 attempts last season. Rodning became the 20th player in Mustang history to reach 1,000 career points.

SMSU head coach Tom Webb enters his fourth season at the helm with a 20-61 overall record and is 18-50 in NSIC play. In the 2018-19 season, Webb led the team to a historic season by setting a Mustang single-game record with 19 3-pointers made and most three-point attempts (34) in a game. SMSU also earned a three-game winning streak from Nov. 16-20 and once again from Jan. 26-Feb. 2, the first three-game winning streak since the 2011-12 season. Last season, the team finished with 12 team victories, the highest since the team finished with 15 wins in 2009-10.

The Mustangs open the regular season on Nov. 8-9 at the Newman Classic in Wichita, Kan. SMSU will face East Central on Nov. 8 before taking on Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), on Nov. 9. SMSU will have its home opener on Saturday, Nov. 16, taking on Presentation (S.D.) at 4 p.m., at the R/A Facility.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications