Women's Basketball

Women’s Basketball Season Preview

Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157

GRINNELL, Iowa – The 2016-17 Midwest Conference (MWC) Women’s Basketball season is just around the corner with opening night on Tuesday, November 15. 

St. Norbert College is the favorite to win its fourth consecutive MWC title and has won 48 of its last 49 games against MWC competition.  Expected to join them in the MWC Tournament are Cornell College, Illinois College and Ripon College.

Seven MWC schools begin the season on Tuesday including Lake Forest College, Beloit college, Knox College, Cornell College, Lawrence University, Monmouth College and Grinnell College.  The following night, St. Norbert and Illinois College will be in action. 

Conference action is just 12 days away as well.  Lake Forest hosts Beloit and Monmouth will entertain Illinois College on November 22. 

Below is a team-by-team preview of all 10 MWC programs.

Beloit College Buccaneers
Head Coach: Gloria Bradley (1st season)
2015-16: 9-14, 7-11
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 8th
Letterwinners Returning: 9
Letterwinners Lost: 4

First-year head coach Gloria Bradley has nine returning letterwinners from last season’s team that finished 7-11 in conference play.  Bradley, an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Chicago State University, must fill the void of last season’s MWC Player of the Year Lana Wieseman.  Senior guard Laura Panicali led the team in minutes played last winter and averaged 15.9 points per game (ppg), while grabbing 4.2 rebounds per game (rpg).  Panicali and Shelby Kline are the top shooters from long distance for Beloit as they both knocked down 37 three-pointers.   Nora Polaski will also be a key contributor for the Bucs this season after making 19 starts last winter. 

Cornell College Rams
Head Coach: Brent Brase (12th season) 134-140
2015-16: 19-6, 15-3
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 2nd
Letterwinners Returning: 7
Letterwinners Lost: 5

Diamond Boyd, a First Team All-MWC selection in 2015-16, returns to lead the Rams this winter.  Boyd was the team’s leading scorer at 15.4 points per game and she set the Cornell single-season record with 83 steals.  Senior Sierra Bisso and junior Haley Grana will lead the backcourt.  Bisso drained 42 three-pointers last season and led the team with 80 assists.  Grana and Bisso both shoot over 80 percent from the free throw line so they are players you want with the ball late in games.  Madie Rinehart and Renee Poulos look to be the leading candidates to fill out the front court. 

Grinnell College
Head Coach: Dana Harrold (4th season) 28-42
2015-16: 15-9, 12-6
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 6th
Letterwinners Returning: 9
Letterwinners Lost: 3

Dana Harrold and the Pioneers had a breakthrough campaign last season and look to continue to build off their third-place conference finish last winter.  Grinnell will need even more from top returns Kayla Morrissey and Alex Neckopulos this season as they will need to replace two-time First Team All-MWC pick Alissa Hirsh.  Morrissey averaged 12.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season, while Neckopulos nearly averaged a double-double at 9.6 points and 10.6 rebounds.  Returning starter Sophia Gatton and sixth man Lydia Stariha will get many more opportunities this season. 

Illinois College
Head Coach: Jen McCormick (1st season)
2015-16: 12-11, 9-9
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 4th
Letterwinners Returning: 10
Letterwinners Lost: 3

First-year head coach Jen McCormick has high expectations in her first season in Jacksonville.  McCormick is no stranger to the MWC after coaching Beloit for the past six seasons.  The Lady Blues were picked to finish fourth in the MWC standings as they return 10 letterwinners including leading scorer Melissa Solorio.  Solorio averaged 10.6 points per game last season and grabbed 4.3 rebounds per game.  Also returning, are starters Sydney Lett, Brielle Greenleaf and Shannen Quehl.  Lett averaged an even 10 points per game, while Quehl led the squad with 5.3 rebounds per game. 

Knox College
Head Coach: Emily Cline (9th season) 64-120
2015-16: 12-11, 7-11
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 7th
Letterwinners Returning: 10
Letterwinners Lost: 3

The Prairie Fire bring back an impressive group of women this season and look to get back to .500 in the league.  Knox won 12 games last season, the most tallies in the wins column since the Prairie Fire won 14 games in 1996-97.  Hailey Leinart is Knox’s top returning scorer at 11.9 ppg and led the team with 57 made three-pointers.  Naja Woods started every game last season and will be a key cog in the Knox machine this winter after averaging just over 11 ppg.  Karlie Thorn will also be back in the starting five after averaging 9.7 points per game. 

Lake Forest College
Head Coach: Tamlyn Tills (9th season) 94-92
2015-16: 11-12, 9-9
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 5th
Letterwinners Returning: 10
Letterwinners Lost: 5

Veteran head coach Tamlyn Tills has some big holes to fill with the departure of All-MWC selections Michelle Ricolcol and K.C. Stralka.  Thankfully for the Foresters, the rest of the starting is back as well as seven other letterwinners.  Kelsey Schmitt is Lake Forest’s top shooter after knocking down 24 treys last winter and averaged 10.2 ppg in conference action last season.  Brittany Avonts grabbed six rebounds per game last season and added 18 blocks, will be a big piece of the Foresters’ success this season.  Tara Gloystein was a regular in the lineup last season and should be again after averaging 23.6 minutes per game in conference action. 

Lawrence University
Head Coach: Ashley Wellman (4th season) 4-65
2015-16: 0-23, 0-18
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 10th
Letterwinners Returning: 6
Letterwinners Lost: 4

Aubrey Scott, Olivia Hoesley and Natalie Kramer provide the Vikings with a solid group of veterans heading into the 2016-17 season.  Scott started 22 of 23 games last season and averaged 4.4 ppg and 3.1 rpg.  Junior guards Hoesley and Kramer totaled 8.1 ppg and 2.9 rpg combined last season and will need to step up this winter to get Lawrence back in the win column.  Kramer was second on the squad last winter with 35 assists and will need to be even more of a distributor this year. 

Monmouth College
Head Coach: Kyle Wilson (2nd season) 5-18, 4-14
2015-16: 5-18, 4-14
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: T8th
Letterwinners Returning: 4
Letterwinners Lost: 5

Second-year head coach Kyle Wilson will continue to build the Monmouth program this winter.  Tia Robertson and Keri Dodson are the two top players for the Fighting Scots.  Dodson was featured in the starting lineup 19 of 23 games and averaged nearly 24 minutes.  She scored 7.3 ppg and grabbed about three rebounds per contest.  Robertson was second on the team with an average of 6.3 rebounds per game and scored nearly 12 points (11.9).  Robertson was also efficient from the charity stripe and 75.7 percent last winter. 

Ripon College
Head Coach: Lauren Johnson (3rd season) 26-44
2015-16: 14-10, 10-8
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 3rd
Letterwinners Returning: 14
Letterwinners Lost: 1

Coming off a 14-win campaign last season, the Red Hawks bring back six of their top seven scorers this season.  Maggie Oimoen, primarily a bench player, was the top scorer for Ripon last season at 10.9 ppg and upped that figure to 11.9 in conference action on 52.5 percent shooting.  Nicole Herkert led the team in rebounds after snatching 141 boards last season and led the team in assists with 60.  Megan Jensen and Emma McDonald scored 7.5 and 7.4 points per game last season and are important pieces to a successful season for the Red Hawks.  Jonalee Elliott and Maddie Koster also bring valuable experience to the team as well. 

St. Norbert College
Head Coach: Connie Tilley (40th season) 652-286
2015-16: 21-5, 18-0
Projected 2016-17 MWC Finish: 1st
Letterwinners Returning: 7
Letterwinners Lost: 7

The Green Knights are the clear favorite this season as they prepare to attempt back-to-back undefeated conference seasons.  First Team All-MWC pick Regan Carmichael and Second Team selections Brianna Byrne and Jill Kleiman all return for St. Norbert.  Carmichael led the team in scoring (12 ppg), rebounding (5.2 rpg), assists (102) and made three-pointers (64).  Byre knocked down 25 from long distance last season, on her way to averaging 10.5 ppg.  She was also exceptional defensively as she produced 30 steals.  Kleiman scored an efficient 7.3 ppg last winter as she shot 45 percent from the field to lead the team.  Mallory Nickerson will be the Green Knights’ top returning post player. She was second on the team in rebounds (4.7) and led the squad in blocked shots with 26.