INDIANAPOLIS – Wisconsin-Parkside and Drury have been tabbed as the favorites to win division titles in the annual Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll. UW-Parkside edged Northern Kentucky in a vote of league coaches as the favorite to claim the GLVC East Division crown and Drury was picked to win the GLVC West Division.
UW-Parkside garnered 104 total points in the poll and nine first-place votes, slightly topping Northern Kentucky which received 103 total points and the remaining seven first-place votes. The Rangers posted a 24-7 record last season and went 15-3 in conference play to finish second in the GLVC North Division.
They will be led by returning All-GLVC first-team selection Jadee Rooney and third-team pick Brittany Beyer. Rooney averaged 15.5 points per game for the Rangers last season and Beyer added 13.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Indianapolis has been selected to finish third in the GLVC East Division with 82 total points. The Greyhounds are followed in the poll by Bellarmine and Kentucky Wesleyan who tied for fourth with 50 points each.
Defending GLVC Champion Lewis is picked to finish sixth as the Flyers garnered 49 total points. Southern Indiana (48 total points) and Saint Joseph’s (26) round out the East Division rankings.
Drury has been tabbed as the favorite to claim the GLVC West Division title. The Panthers, who recorded a 20-10 overall record last year, collected 113 total points and 12 first-place votes in the poll.
They will be led this season by reigning GLVC Freshman of the Year Bethanie Funderburk who averaged a team-best 15.9 points per game last season. Drury also returns top rebounder Erica Groose (7.1 rpg), senior guard Kassie Walker and junior guard Katie Pritchard who missed all of the 2010-11 season due to injury.
Quincy, under the guidance of new head coach Jeni Garber, is second in the GLVC West Division poll as the Lady Hawks recorded 100 total points and the final four first-place votes. Missouri S&T is third in the poll with 86 total points and is followed by Maryville (64), Missouri-St. Louis (62), Illinois Springfield (45), Rockhurst (23) and William Jewell (22).
The top four teams from each division and four wild cards will earn a berth to the 2012 GLVC Basketball Tournament which will culminate at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Ill. on Mar. 1-4, with the women’s teams competing on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The 12-team tournament will open with first round games the weekend prior. The top four seeds in the event will earn a first-round bye.
The complete 2011-12 GLVC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll follows…
East Division
Team (First-place votes) Total Points
1. Wisconsin-Parkside (9) 104
2. Northern Kentucky (7) 103
3. Indianapolis 82
4. Bellarmine 50
Kentucky Wesleyan 50
6. Lewis 49
7. Southern Indiana 48
8. Saint Joseph’s 26
West Division
Team (First-place votes) Total Points
1. Drury (12) 113
2. Quincy (4) 100
3. Missouri S&T 86
4. Maryville 64
5. Missouri-St. Louis 62
6. Illinois Springfield 45
7. Rockhurst 23
8. William Jewell# 22