BAY CITY, Mich. - Ashland and Grand Valley State enter the 2016-17 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball season as divisional favorites following Thursday's announcement of the 2016-17 GLIAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
GVSU enters the season coming off a 26-win season under second-year head coach Mike Williams and a trip to the national semifinals. In the GLIAC South, Ashland welcomes back a pair of All-American junior forwards, Andi Daugherty and Laina Snyder, who combined for 31.0 points and 16.8 rebounds last year. The Eagles possess the most wins in NCAA Division II over the last five season (144).
Heading into the third season under head coach Kristen Rogers, Lake Superior State women's basketball was selected to finish eighth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's North Division.
Following a tough 5-23 campaign in 2015-16, the Lakers hope a large crop of freshmen will help infuse new life into the team. Rogers and staff welcome nine freshmen this season and return three starters from last season.
The Lakers will likely rely heavily on 2016 All-GLIAC Second Team selection, senior Mackenzie Edwards. The Gaylord, Mich., native averaged a team-leading 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and ranked ninth in the GLIAC in overall scoring.
Sophomores Valerie Meissner and Rachel Novotny return with over 20 starts last season and will look to improve upon promising rookie seasons. Meissner averaged 6.4 points and 2.6 assists per game, while Novotny averaged 6.1 points and logged 3.6 rebounds per game.
The team's second-leading scorer from last season, Tamara Novic, also returns for this, her junior season. Novic only started one game last season but managed to average 8.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in only 17.8 minutes per game. The native of Belgrade, Serbia also led the team with a 50.7 field-goal percentage. Junior forward Natalie Peterson also started 15 games and brings veteran leadership to the Lakers front court.
LSSU hosts Lawrence Tech in exhibition play on Sunday, Oct. 30 before opening the regular season in Hillsdale, Mich. The Lakers will play Great Lakes Valley Conference members Illinois-Springfield and McKendree on Nov. 11-12, respectively, as part of the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge.
Saginaw Valley, under the direction of former LSSU head coach Jamie Pewinski, arrives at No. 2 in the North after a trip to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament last year, her sixth season at the helm of the Cardinals. SVSU returns the reigning GLIAC Player of the Year and this season's GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year senior center Emily Wendling along with last year's GLIAC Freshman of the Year, Halee Nieman.
Below are the selections for preseason all-conference awards:
2016 GLIAC WBB Preseason All-Conference Teams
North Division
Rachel McInerney – Ferris State
Kayla Dawson – Grand Valley State
Morgan Anderson – Michigan Tech
Jordyn Nurenberg – Northwood
Emily Wendling – Saginaw Valley (Player of the Year)
South Division
Andi Daugherty – Ashland
Laina Snyder – Ashland
Haley Horstman – Findlay
Made Rittinger – Ohio Dominican
Brooklyn Wooten – Walsh
The full GLIAC Media Day press release can be viewed at: http://www.gliac.org/polls/wbkb/2016-17/index
