Faster than you can blink, basketball season is once again upon us, meaning it is time for women’s preseason rankings. Below, you will find the rankings and a brief breakdown of each slot.
1. South Dakota State (90 points)
SDSU was unanimously selected at the top spot in the preseason rankings. Veteran Coach Aaron Johnston returns a strong super senior in Myah Selland, along with juniors Tori Nelson and Kallie Theisen. They should also benefit from sophomore duo Haleigh Timmer and Paige Meyer. If that is not enough for the reigning WNIT Champions, they have added South Dakota native and former Utah Ute, graduate transfer Dru Gylten to the roster this season. There is little doubt that SDSU is in good position to be at the top of the league consistently, and find themselves in the NCAA Tournament in March.
2. South Dakota (79 points)
Fresh from a Sweet 16 appearance, the Yotes take the second spot in the preseason rankings, but not without a few new faces and a desire to write a new chapter. Head Coach Kayla Karius has big shoes to fill in Vermillion. The fairly young team does have a couple of senior leaders in Macy Guebert and Jeniah Ugofsky. They also return two exceptional difference-makers in sophomores Grace Larkins and Natalie Mazurek. Cal Baptist transfer Nicole Avila-Ambrosi will look to make her mark for USD this year as well. There is a cloud of uncertainty just south of Sioux Falls, but our voters have high expectations.
3. North Dakota State (66 points)
In our third slot is NDSU. Jory Collins and his squad look to return to the semifinal round after falling in the first round of last year’s league championship, and they will attempt to do so with many new faces. Senior Heaven Hamling and junior Abby Schulte are the most experienced upperclassmen, while Katie Hildebrandt should be a young leader for the Bison. Outside those three, NDSU is fairly transfer-heavy this year with the addition of grad-transfer Taylor Brown (American), juniors Kristina Ekofo Yomane (NE Oklahoma A&M) and Georgia Baldwin (Eastern Kentucky), and sophomore Abbie Draper (Bradley). The Bison also added four freshman this year.
4. Oral Roberts (61 points)
As one of three teams in the conference under new leadership, ORU may feel it has a lot to prove, but our voters don’t think so. Hot off a league championship semifinal appearance and trying to excel further than that, the Golden Eagles sit nicely in the fourth spot. A championship-experienced coach might be just what they need, and they got just that. Kelsi Musick comes to ORU after coaching Southwestern Oklahoma State for 13 seasons and winning a DII National Championship in 2019. A championship mindset is not the only thing ORU has, though. It returns senior Hannah Cooper and OKC sophomores Trinity and Tirzah Moore, three immense difference-makers for the group. ORU also returns graduate students Delaney Nix and Ariel Walker. New faces include two Oklahoma State transfers, a Charleston Southern transfer, and a SWOSU grad-transfer that has played under Coach Musick, Lauren Ramey.
5. North Dakota (55 points)
Another conference semifinal team, North Dakota lands in our fifth preseason rankings slot. The Hawks have big shoes to fill after losing Melissa Leet to graduation and Olivia Lane to the transfer portal, but they just might be able to do so with what they are bringing in. Mallory Bernhard enters her fourth season at the helm of UND with five talented freshman and a DIII transfer (Tara Bieniewicz). One notable return for the Hawks is talented senior guard Kacie Borowicz, who finished her junior year leading the league in points per game (19.4) and free-throw percentage (.957). The Hawks will look to make big moves up the conference ranks this year.
6. Kansas City (41 points)
The third of league teams with new leadership, Kansas City finds itself in our sixth preseason position. Dionnah Jackson-Durrett steps into the vacant space left by Jacie Hoyt (Oklahoma State), and with her, four freshman, one graduate-transfer and one redshirt-sophomore. Some uncertainty looms for this program, but our voters seem confident that they will end up somewhere between fourth and seventh in the league.
7. Western Illinois (37 points)
Our seventh spot holder is WIU. JD Gravina’s crew finished 5-13 in the conference last year before a 21-point loss and first-round exit in the conference championship. They have some catching up to do after losing standout Danni Nichols to West Virginia. The good news is that WIU returns Elizabeth Lutz, Carla Flores, Alissa Dins, Jada Thorpe, and Anna Deets, who have a good chunk of experience for the Leathernecks.
8. Denver (26 points)
Doshia Woods has garnered more success each season and we can imagine she hopes to do the same with her team this year. The Pios are No. 8 in our preseason rankings. Like most other schools, they suffered at the hands of the transfer portal, losing Uju Ezeudu and her 17.3 points per game to Florida Gulf Coast. Also to the transfer portal went Meghan Boyd, who ended up at Colorado State. They do return Mikayla Minnett, Cheyenne Forney, and Mary Wilson, so the experienced player is not completely lost. Like the rest of the league, we wait to see what the Pios will do this year.
9. St. Thomas (22 points)
The second-year DI and first-year conference tournament-eligible Tommies sit in our ninth spot in the preseason. Ruth Sinn’s group is fairly young, but young and inexperienced are not synonymous in this instance. UST returns a sophomore crowd of Jordyn Lamker, Sammy Opichka, Audrey Hatfield and star Jade Hill. They also landed in-conference transfer, sophomore Alexis Pratt (Omaha). The Tommies will look to increase their win count this year after a 4-14 conference stint last year.
10. Omaha (17 points)
Third-year Head Coach Carrie Banks looks to return her Mavericks to a winning record. Omaha missed the conference tournament last year after defeating No. 1 SDSU and making a run that lasted into the championship game two years ago. They will attempt to do so without Alexis Pratt, (St. Thomas) who transferred as previously mentioned. The Mavs return graduate student Elena Pilakouta. The Cyprus native started 19 games last year and shot nearly 53 percent from the field. She also tallied a career-high 32 points last November and is the most experienced Mavericks this season. Graduate-transfer Deanay Watson (Southeast Missouri State) should also contribute to the scoring effort for Omaha.
With a host of new coaches and players, it may be wise to expect the unexpected on the women’s side of the Summit League this season. Anything could happen.