INDIANAPOLIS – Lewis University has been selected to win the upcoming 2018-19 Great Lakes Valley Conference season, it was announced by the league office Wednesday. The annual GLVC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll was voted on by the league coaches and ranks all 14 teams in predicted order of finish.
The GLVC regular season will no longer include the standard two divisions, or the three divisions that were adopted last year with 15 teams. The top-eight teams with the most points derived from the GLVC Point Rating System at the end of the regular season will earn a berth to the GLVC Basketball Championship Tournament on March 7-10 at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois, on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Lewis, which went 24-8 overall and 15-3 in GLVC action last season, narrowly edged out defending Champion Drury University for the top spot in the preseason with 175 points and seven of the possible 13 first-place votes, as Conference policy prohibits coaches from casting a vote for their own team. The Flyers, named a “team to watch” in the Division II Bulletin (DIIB) Preseason Poll, finished second in the East division last year and were the No. 3 seed for the GLVC postseason event. They followed with a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history and sixth year in a row. Second-year head coach Samantha Quigley Smith returns All-GLVC First Team choice and reigning back-to-back GLVC Player of the Year, Jessica Kelliher, to her lineup along with second-team pick in junior forward Rachel Hinders.
Drury (31-3, 17-1 GLVC), ranked fifth by D-II Bulletin, earned six first-place votes for 174 points to finish second to Lewis in the poll by just one point. The Panthers were both West Division and GLVC Tournament Champions for the second consecutive season, earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they advanced to the Midwest Regional championship game for the third-straight season. Fifth-year head coach Molly Miller returns a pair of All-GLVC picks in 2018 GLVC Defensive Player of the Year, Daejah Bernard, and the Championship Tournament MVP, Hailey Diestelkamp, along with All-Freshman Team member Payton Richards.
Last season’s East Division Champion, Southern Indiana (26-5, 16-2), garnered the other first-place vote and 155 points to finish third in the initial poll. Head coach Rick Stein led his Screaming Eagles to an appearance in the GLVC Championship Tournament final before its 10th berth in the NCAA postseason. In his 20th season, the reigning back-to-back GLVC Coach of the Year begins the campaign as DIIB’s 19th-ranked team but won’t have the depth he enjoyed last year with the likes of All-GLVC honorees Kaydie Grooms, Morgan Dahlstrom, and Randa Harshbarger leading the way. He does, however, have two other starters returning in seniors Kacy Eschweiler – a third-team All-Conference honoree – and Alex Davidson.
Bellarmine University (16-12, 11-7) and Truman State University (15-11, 10-8) tied for fourth with 155 points apiece, followed by last year’s Central Division champion University of Missouri-St. Louis (21-6, 14-4) in sixth with 127 points. University of Indianapolis (8-20, 5-13) rounds out the top-half of the poll in seventh with 95 points.
McKendree University (94 points), Rockhurst University (81) and William Jewell College (75) have been picked eighth through 10th, respectively. University of Illinois Springfield (69), Maryville University (57), Quincy University (45) and Missouri S&T (39) round out the final four positions.
The majority of GLVC women’s basketball teams officially open the season Friday, Nov. 9, with 11 in action, including Bellarmine, Drury, Illinois Springfield, Maryville, McKendree, Missouri S&T, Missouri-St. Louis, Quincy, Rockhurst, Southern Indiana, and Truman State.
The complete 2018-19 GLVC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll follows:
| 2018-19 GLVC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL |
| Place |
Team |
Points (1st-place votes) |
| 1. |
Lewis |
175 (7) |
| 2. |
Drury |
174 (6) |
| 3. |
Southern Indiana |
155 (1) |
| 4. |
Bellarmine |
135 |
| 4. |
Truman State |
135 |
| 6. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
127 |
| 7. |
Indianapolis |
95 |
| 8. |
McKendree |
94 |
| 9. |
Rockhurst |
81 |
| 10. |
William Jewell |
75 |
| 11. |
Illinois Springfield |
69 |
| 12. |
Maryville |
57 |
| 13. |
Quincy |
45 |
| 14. |
Missouri S&T |
39 |