Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
GRINNELL, Iowa – After being named co-Midwest Conference (MWC) Women’s Basketball Champion with Cornell College, the coaches’ selected the Red Hawks to repeat in 2018-19 in their annual preseason poll.
Ripon topped the field with 73 points and earned three first-place votes. St. Norbert College garnered the highest number of first-place votes with four but its total of 71 total points put the Green Knights in a close second place. Lake Forest College also received two top votes and edged out the Rams by one point for third with a total of 60.
The defending regular season co-champions and MWC Tournament winners, Cornell, earned the fourth most points with 59 along with one first-place vote. Following eight points behind is last year’s MWC Tournament participant Knox College with 51 points.
Illinois College, Lawrence University, and Monmouth College all finished with a 6-10 MWC record last seasons. The Lady Blues outdid the other two in the preseason poll with 44 points for sixth place while the Vikings and Scots both garnered 30 to tie for seventh.
Grinnell College and Beloit College round out the poll with 22 and 10 points respectively.
The season tips-off tomorrow at 5:30 pm when Lake Forest heads to the University of Chicago. Starting at 6:00 pm, Grinnell will host Central College while Beloit takes on Dominican University.
| Full Polls Results |
|
| 1. Ripon |
73 (3) |
| 2. St. Norbert |
71 (4) |
| 3. Lake Forest |
60 (2) |
| 4. Cornell |
59 (1) |
| 5. Knox |
51 |
| 6. Illinois College |
44 |
| T7. Lawrence |
30 |
| T7. Monmouth |
30 |
| 9. Grinnell |
22 |
| 10. Beloit |
10 |
Below is a team-by-team preview.
Beloit College Buccaneers
Head Coach: Gloria Bradley (3rd season) 10-37, 6-28 MWC
2017-18: 4-20, 2-14 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 10th
Starters Returning: Shelby Kline, Candace Cunningham, Lauren Glaser, Kelly McLean
All-MWC Returners: 2nd Team – Kline
Beloit returns four starters for 2018-19 led by All-Conference guard Shelby Kline who led the conference with 3.3 assists per game and finished fifth in scoring with an average of 15.1 points per game. Kline was the only player to finish in the top five in both scoring and assists and she also was second with 2.7 steals per game. Candace Cunningham is coming off a soccer season where she finished in the league top ten with 18 points. On the court, she ranked fifth in the conference last season with 8.2 rebounds per game while averaging 9.3 points.
Cornell College Rams
Head Coach: Brent Brase (14th season) 174-151, 91-15 MWC
2017-18: 20-6, 14-2 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 4th
Starters Returning: Kandis O’Donnell, Mya Johnson
Cornell is back-to-back regular season champions and has reached the MWC Tournament title game five of the last six years including winning it last season; however, the coaches picked the Rams only to finish fourth. The Rams look to prove the coaches wrong, despite losing MWC Player of the Year Diamond Boyd. Cornell ranked 13th in the nation last season for fewest turnovers (347) and 14th in turnover margin (+8.48 pg). Kandis O’Donnell returns after shooting 55.8 percent from the field and picking up ten blocks and 32 steals on defense. The Rams look to be a threat from behind the arc as Rose Shimaoka and Alison Kelly return after both making 20-plus threes last season.
Grinnell College Pioneers
Head Coach: Dana Harrold (6th season) 52-67, 38-50 MWC
2017-18: 7-15, 4-12 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 9th
Starters Returning: Tyria Heath, Abby Hellweg, Mikayla Kricfalusi
The Pioneers enter this season without conference-leading scorer and the team’s top rebounder Kayla Morrissey. Instead, they will look to Tyria Heath who averaged 11.9 points per game last season on 43 percent shooting. Heath also was second on the team with a 32.7 three-point percentage. Mikayla Kricfalusi looks to pick up on the defensive side for Morrissey as she was second last season with 100 rebounds for an average of five per game and led the team with 38 on the offensive board.
Illinois College Lady Blues
Head Coach: Jennifer McCormick (3rd season) 20-28, 15-19 MWC
2017-18: 8-16, 6-10 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 6th
Starters Returning: Sydney Lett, Grace Yaunches, McKenzie Skaggs, Brielle Greenleaf
All-MWC Returners: 1st Team – Greenleaf
Illinois College guard Brielle Greenleaf earned All-Conference recognition last season after finishing third in scoring with 16 points per game. Greenleaf along with three other returning starters hope to move the Lady Blues up the standings in 2018-19. Guard Sydney Lett sets up the offense as she dished out 70 assists last season for the third-best average in the league at 3.2 per game. Sydney Himmelman also returns after finishing in the top 15 in rebounds with 115 and an average of 6.1 as a first-year. Himmelman also ranked third with 29 blocks on the season.
Knox College Prairie Fire
Head Coach: Emily Cline (11th season) 93-139, 65-109 MWC
2017-18: 16-9, 11-5 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 5th
Starters Returning: Kyra Huffman, Jarrelyn McCall, Morgan Potter, Karlie Thorn, Taliah Ellis
All-MWC Returners: 2nd Team – McCall
The Prairie Fire return all five starters from a team that finished third in the conference and made the MWC Tournament where they fell to tournament champion Cornell by just one point in the semifinal 43-42. Knox looks to return to the postseason led by two-time All-MWC player Jarrelyn McCall who ranked in the top ten of five statistical categories last season. McCall finished seventh in scoring (14.4 ppg), fifth in rebounding (8.0 rpg), third in free throw percentage (.833) and assists per game (3.3), and finally was second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1).
Lake Forest College Foresters
Head Coach: Tamlyn Tills (11th season) 113-123, 93-81 MWC
2017-18: 13-14, 9-7 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 3rd
Starters Returning: Kelsey Burton, Hannah O’Day, Jaianna Brooks, Molly Schoenlein
All-MWC Returners: 1st Team – Burton, 2nd Team – Hannah O’Day
Forester head coach Tamlyn Tills enters the 2018-19 season just seven wins away from 100 conference wins. She looks to reach the milestone with the help of four returning starters led by last season’s MWC Newcomer of the Year Kelsey Burton. Burton earned the honor after ranking in the top ten in scoring (14.2 ppg), rebounds (8.0 rpg), and steals (2.0 spg) while just missing the top ten with 2.2 assists per game. Hannah O’Day joined her on the All-Conference team after averaging 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Guard Jaianna Brooks led the team and ranked fourth in the conference with 3.0 assists per game.
Lawrence University Vikings
Head Coach: Riley Woldt (1st season)
2017-18: 7-18, 6-10 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: T7th
Starters Returning: Kenya Earl, Leah Reeves, Erin Hill, Shonell Benjamin
All-MWC Returners: 2nd Team – Earl
New head coach Riley Woldt will start his first season off short-handed as the Vikings will have just nine players until Grace Minogue returns from studying abroad. Lawrence will look to All-Conference forward Kenya Earl to lead the way as she earned conference honors after leading all first-years and ranking second in the conference in scoring at 17.3 points per game. She also led the team defensively with 7.6 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and a block per game. Earl also finished first in the conference in free throw percentage at 87 percent. Guard Erin Hill returns to set up Earl as she ranked seventh in the league with 2.9 assists per game.
Monmouth College Fighting Scots
Head Coach: Kyle Wilson (4th season) 18-53, 14-38 MWC
2017-18: 9-16, 6-10 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: T7th
Starters Returning: Carley Turnbull, Yvonne Ornelas, Shayne Smith, Becca Gallis
All-MWC Returners: 2nd Team – Turnbull
Monmouth returns four of five starters who look to grab a top five outright after tying for fifth last season with two other teams. Carley Turnbull returns after an All-Conference first season where she averaged 11.1 points per game on the ninth best shooting percentage of 45.3 percent. She also grabbed 136 rebounds including 110 on the defensive end. Turnbull was the leader of an offense the topped the league in scoring at 64.8 points per game and shot a league-high 41.5 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from three. Fellow first-year Shayne Smith returns after shooting 45.2 percent last seasons while the Scots also return Becca Gallis whose 44.5 percent from behind the arc ranked fourth in the conference.
Ripon College Red Hawks
Head Coach: Lauren (Johnson) Busalacchi (5th season) 60-59, 51-37 MWC
2017-18: 17-8, 14-2 MWC
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 1st
Starters Returning: Maggie Oimoen, Natalie Geiger
All-MWC Returners: 1st Team – Oimoen
Ripon was named regular season co-champion with Cornell last season but was edged by Lake Forest 78-75 in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament. The coaches think the Red Hawks have what it takes to finish on top once again with All-Conference performer Maggie Oimoen leading the way. Oimen finished in the conference top ten in scoring (13.9) on 47.6 percent shooting and rebounding (7.2) last season. She also led the league with 83 offensive boards as the Red Hawks led the conference with a team bust 44 offensive rebounds per game. Ripon’s team defense was the best in the league as it allowed just 53.6 points per game and opponents shot 33.2 from the field.
St. Norbert College Green Knights
Head Coach: Connie Tilley (42nd season) 682-297, 382-104 MWC
2017-18: 10-5
Projected 2018-19 MWC Finish: 2nd
Starters Returning: Sarah Neumann, Sarah Ratajczyk, Christine Olijnyk
St. Norbert’s defense ranked just behind the Red Hawks allowing 54 points per game and opponents shot just 27 percent from three-point range. The Green Knights also grabbed an average of 34 defensive rebounds a game. Sarah Neumann returns as the team’s leading rebounder with 6.5 a game with 60 of her 98 total rebounds coming on defense. Neumann also scored 10.8 points per game on a team-best 45.5 percent shooting. Sarah Ratajczyk also returns after averaging 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds in seven games.