BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University's women's basketball team was picked to finish sixth in the South Division and 12th overall in the annual 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Thursday.
 
Minnesota State was chosen as the preseason overall favorite earning 216 points, with eight first-place votes (coaches can't vote for their own team). Minnesota Duluth was selected second with 213 points (seven first-place votes), followed by Augustana (182, one first-place vote), Sioux Falls (176) and Concordia-St. Paul (158).
 
Northern State (140) was picked to finish sixth overall, ranking ahead of St. Cloud State (137), UMary (135), MSU Moorhead (133) and Bemidji State (98) rounding out the top 10. Winona State was chosen 11^th (83), followed by SMSU (81), Wayne State (58), Minot State (42), Upper Iowa (40) and Minnesota Crookston (28).
 
Minnesota State (48 points, six first-place votes) was selected to finish atop the NSIC South Division. Augustana (two first-place votes) garnered 41 points for second place with Sioux Falls picked third (36), followed by CSP (34), Winona State (18) SMSU (17), Wayne State (17), and Upper Iowa (13).
 
Senior forward/center Aislinn Duffy from Augustana was chosen as the NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year. 
 
Minnesota Duluth was chosen as the favorite to win the NSIC North Division with 49 points and seven first-place votes. UMD senior forward, Brooke Olson, was named the NSIC North Preseason Player of the Year. 
 
SMSU senior forward Jenna Borchers was named a "Player to Watch" in the NSIC this season. A native of Grimes, Iowa, Bochers started all 26 games last season, averaging 7.5 ppg and 3.3 rpg. Borchers was second on the team with 53 assists. She scored in double figures eight times, and led the team in assists in nine games. Borchers scored season-high 18 points at Sioux Falls while going a career-high 11 for 11 on free throws on November 23, 2021.
 
"With Jenna's experience she understands how tough NSIC play is every single night." said Tom Webb, SMSU head coach. "Her ability to shoot the "3" at a very high level allows her to play in space and get to the rim. She's worked extremely hard on her game and continues to strive to be better and better each year."
 
SMSU returns eight letter winners from last season's 13-13 team that placed fifth in the NSIC South and finished eighth overall with a 9-11 league mark. The Mustangs finish 10-3 at home, their best home record since the 2002-03 season. SMSU earned their first home NSIC tournament game since 2005, and first NSIC tournament victory since 2003, ending the season with their first ever tournament game inside the Pentagon.
 
The Mustangs return just one starter from a season ago (Borchers), while returning two others that logged at least one start. Madison Gehloff played in all 26 games and started three last season. Gehloff shot 45.6 percent (41 of 90) from the field, averaged 4.0 points per game and grabbed 3.7 rebounds. Sam Wall is also back after playing all 26 games and starting one, leading all returners with 7.7 points per game. She led the team with 46 made 3-pointers, making them at a 39.7 percent clip.
 
Sophomore guard Hannah Parsley saw action in all 26 games last season, averaging 3.7 points per game off the bench. She shot 45.3 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from three, and 73.2 percent from the free throw line while grabbing 2.5 rebounds a game. Parsley scored a career-high 14 points in 23 minutes against Concordia-St. Paul on Febuary 5, 2022. Also coming off the bench in all 26 games was sophomore guard Bri Stoltzman, who averaged 2.6 points on 51.9 percent shooting from the field. She nabbed 19 steals during the season and secured 2.5 rebounds a game. 
 
Sophomores Kenzie Jones, Peyton Blandin, and Sarah Conlon also return after seeing limited time last season. 
 
"This group has brought great energy and effort everyday this fall. They continue to push to be better than the day before and it's fun to watch." Said Webb.
 
The Mustang roster also features redshirt freshman forward Emily Kranz and four freshmen in guard Zoie Centers, forwards Maddie Thorfinnson and Audrey Swanson, and center Kennadi Buchholz. 
 
SMSU will kick off their season with an exhibition game versus South Dakota State on Nov. 2. 
 
The Mustangs opens the regular season on Nov. 11-12 competing at the Nebraska-Kearney Classic to face Northwest Missouri State and Nebraska-Kearney. SMSU will open its 14-game home schedule on Nov. 15 versus Crown College, while the NSIC opener is scheduled for Nov. 22 versus the University of Sioux Falls inside the R/A Facility in Marshall.