BURNSVILLE — The Southwest Minnesota State women’s basketball team was picked to finish tied for fifth in the South Division in the annual Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches’ poll released on Wednesday.

Minnesota State was selected to win the South Division with 43 points and earning three first place votes. Augustana and Winona State were both picked second with 35 points and two first place votes each, while Sioux Falls finished in fourth place with 27 points and one first place vote. SMSU and Wayne State were each selected fifth with 26 points, followed by Concordia-St. Paul in seventh place with 25 points and Upper Iowa in eighth place with seven points.

Minnesota Duluth was selected to win the NSIC North Division with 49 points and seven first place votes, with St. Cloud State slated to finish second with 41 points.

Due to a reduced 14-game NSIC schedule this winter, no overall champion was selected in the poll. All NSIC schools are scheduled to play 16 regular season games with 14 conference games versus teams from their own division.

SMSU will look to continue its steady rise in the NSIC this winter after recording the program’s first winning campaign in 10 years a season ago. SMSU, under fifth-year head coach Tom Webb, returns all five starters from last season’s team that won 16 games, which is the highest total for the program since 2004-05.

Senior guard Meleah Reinhart was named a “Player to Watch” in the NSIC this season after being named second team All-NSIC for the second straight season. Reinhart is coming off a 2019-20 campaign that saw her lead the team in scoring (15.0) and rank second in assists. She finished 11th in the league in scoring and ranked eighth in free throw percentage.

Junior guard Jenna Borchers finished second on the team in scoring last season averaging 13.4 ppg, while connecting on a team-leading 72 3-pointers and dishing out a team-high 77 assists. Also back is senior guard Sadie Stelter, who connected on 56 3-pointers and averaged 10.7 ppg in 2019-20.

Senior center Abuk Akoi was named to the NSIC All-Defensive team a season ago and averaged a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game and led the squad with 57 blocked shots. Senior forward Erin Baxter and senior forward Sara Teske are two more veterans returning this season. Baxter started 13 games in 2019-20 and averaged 5.2 ppg with 18 3-pointers, while Teske played in every game a season ago and averaged 3.7 ppg and 4.6 rpg.

Sophomore guards Sam Wall and Madison Gehloff, both made big impacts as true freshmen last season, combining to make 41 3-pointers and each averaging 5.0 ppg. Also returning with solid experience is senior forward Mateya Hutton, sophomore forward Lily Schoknecht and sophomore guard Olivia Drummer, who all appeared in 15 or more games last season.

The team will also welcome back senior forward Caleigh Rodning, a two-time All-NSIC second team honoree, who missed all but six games in 2019-20 due to an injury. A 1,000-point career scorer, Rodning led the Mustangs in both scoring and rebounding during her sophomore and junior seasons.

SMSU opens the regular season on Jan. 2-3 hosting Minot State in a pair of non-conference games. The Mustangs open NSIC South Division play on Jan. 8-9 with two games at Winona State.

The NSIC Sanford Tournament will also change this season with an eight-team format instead of the traditional 16-team tournament. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the tournament which will take place Feb. 25-28 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications