BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) has released the 2018-19 NSIC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll and Concordia-St. Paul was picked to finish third in the conference and second in the NSIC South.
Senior CSP guard
Anna Schmitt was selected as the NSIC South Preseason Player of the Year. Schmitt has twice been named to the All-NSIC First Team and once to the All-NSIC second team.
NSIC coaches rank each team from 1 to 15 with a first place vote receiving 15 points, second place 14, third place 13, etc. Coaches do not rank their own team or vote for their own players in the preseason poll.
Concordia received 178 points in the poll, including two first place votes. The Golden Bears trailed just Sioux Falls (208) and MSU Moorhead (185) in the poll. Sioux Falls was also picked to win the NSIC South division with five first place votes, though CSP did receive two first place votes for the division title as well. Minnesota Duluth was picked to finish first in the NSIC North. UMary junior Gabbie Bohl was picked as the preseason player of the year in the North division.
CSP was picked to finished sixth in the 2017-18 preseason poll. This year's mark of third place in the preseason poll is the best for the Golden Bears since the 2014-15 season when they were picked to finish first.
The Golden Bears are primed to have a strong bounce-back year in 2018-19, returning one of the top players in the conference, bringing back other key players from last year's squad, and adding some newcomers with the potential to make a big impact.
Schmitt shot 45.7% from the field last year, and also hit 40.7% of her three-point shots and 86.7% of her free throws. She averaged 19.4 points per game (2nd in the NSIC), and also led the team in assists (84) and steals (29). Schmitt scored 10+ points in 26 of 29 games in 2017-18, scoring 15 or more 22 times.
The Golden Bears return ten players from the 2017-18 team, including five seniors. Senior center
Lindsay Dorr led CSP in rebounding last season with 7.6 per game, and also was second in scoring at 11.3 points per game. Dorr also ended the year on a hot streak, scoring double-digit points in 12 of her last 14 games. Senior guard
Kyrah Fredenburg could also make a big impact for the Golden Bears, as she led the conference in rebounds per game (10.3) in 2016-17 before sustaining a season ending injury early in her 2017-18 campaign. Guards
Ellie Gess (6.3 ppg) and
Hanna Vidlund (6.2 ppg) also return for the Golden Bears.
CSP welcomes four freshmen and two transfers to the team. Concordia brings two 5'11 forwards to the team with previous college basketball experience.
Riley Wheatcraft (Northern Iowa) and
Sidney Wentland (Denver) are both coming from DI schools to play for the Golden Bears.
The NSIC regular season championship will be based on the 22-game schedule. Each team will play teams in their division twice (14) and teams in the other division once (8). An NSIC North and South Division Champion will also be awarded. Divisional standings will also be based on all 22 NSIC contests played. In the case of a tie, co-champions will be awarded. The 16-team NSIC / Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place Sat.-Tues., March 2-5 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. First round games will be played on the campus of the top eight seeds on Wednesday, Feb. 27.
The women's basketball team will open up their season with a matchup against Harding (Ark.) on Friday, November 9th in Kansas City. Their first home game will be played Tuesday November 13th against Wisconsin-Superior at 7 p.m.
