UMC Women's Basketball Picked 11th in NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll

CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women’s basketball team was picked to finish 11^th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Thursday by the conference office. UMC was picked sixth in the NSIC North Division.

The Golden Eagles are coming off a historic season with an all-time best mark of 18-10 (14-8 NSIC) as they went to their second-consecutive NSIC/Sanford Health Quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Minnesota Crookston will look to build upon their great back-to-back seasons as they embark on the 2016-17 campaign. UMC will have to replace All-NSIC First Team performers Alexa Thielman and Katrina Nordick, who were among the best players in program history. It will be a tall order but the Golden Eagles have a strong core returning. Leading the way for UMC will be juniors Micaela Noga and Emily Gruber. Both players are two-year starters and have been key players on the team. Noga, UMC’s Player to Watch, averaged 8.8 points per game, while Gruber tallied 8.4 points per game. Sophomore point guard Alison Hughes will play an integral role for UMC. The All-NSIC Freshman Team pick tallied 10.3 points per game in her first season and looks poised to improve in her sophomore campaign.

Also returning are key bench players Isieoma Odor and Caitlin Michaelis, who both averaged over 15 minutes per game. Odor tallied 7.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while Michaelis averaged 3.7 points per game.

The Golden Eagles also return letter winner Lindsey Weber.

In addition, UMC has 6-3 redshirt freshman Leanna Haugen to add to the fray, which will give UMC a strong post presence along with Gruber and Odor. Also look for newcomers Amber Schoenicke, Kelsey Stinson, Paige Weakley, Kitri Zezza and Stephanie McWilliams to make their mark for the Golden Eagles.

Winona State University was selected by the league coaches as the overall and south division preseason favorite. The Warriors received seven first-place votes, ahead of Augustana University’s four first-place votes and Northern State University’s three first-place votes. Northern State was picked second in the poll, just one vote behind Winona State, while Augustana was selected third. Northern State was selected as the NSIC North preseason favorite.

The Golden Eagles will open up the exhibition slate tonight at South Dakota State University at 7 p.m. They will commence the regular season Nov. 18 against Michigan Tech University at 4:30 p.m., in Houghton, Mich.

Overall	Points		North Division	Points
1. Winona State (7)	201		1. Northern State (6)	48
2. Northern State (3)	200		2. MSU Moorhead (1)	42
3. Augustana (4)	195		3. St. Cloud State	30
4. Wayne State	183		4. University of Mary	28
5. MSU Moorhead	163		5. Minnesota Duluth	24
6. Minnesota State (2)	146		6. Minnesota Crookston (1)	23
7. Concordia-St. Paul	140		7. Minot State	15
8. St. Cloud State	124		8. Bemidji State	14
9. Sioux Falls	108		South Division	Points
10. Minnesota Duluth	107		1. Winona State (3)	42
11. Minnesota Crookston	98		2. Augustana (2)	40
12. University of Mary	93		3. Wayne State (2)	38
13. Minot State	57		4. Minnesota State (1)	32
14. Bemidji State	56		5. Concordia-St. Paul	28
15. SMSU	26		6. Sioux Falls	24
16. Upper Iowa	23		7. Upper Iowa	11
first place votes in ( )			8. SMSU	9