2022-23 Preseason NSIC Women's Basketball Coaches Poll Release

            Wayne State College was selected 13^th overall and tied for sixth in the South Division in the NSIC Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll announced Thursday afternoon by the league's office in Burnsville, Minnesota. Senior forward Logan Hughes was listed as Wayne State's Player to Watch in the NSIC this season.
            WSC returns four starters from last year's squad that was 9-15 and placed seventh in the NSIC South with a 6-14 record.  The 'Cats received 58 points in voting conducted by league coaches.
            Minnesota State edged Minnesota Duluth as the preseason favorite in NSIC women's basketball this season. MSU collected 216 points and eight first place votes just ahead of UMD's 213 points and seven first place votes. Augustana received the final first place selection and was third with 182 points. Sioux Falls (176) and Concordia-St. Paul (158) fill out the top five teams.
            Northern State was sixth at 140 points, just ahead of St. Cloud State (137), University of Mary (135) and MSU Moorhead (133) in ninth.
            In the NSIC South Division Poll, Minnesota State was first with 48 points and six first place votes. Augustana was next with 41 points and the remaining two first place votes. Sioux Falls followed in third at 36 points with Concordia-St. Paul a close fourth at 34 points. Winona State was fifth at 18 points, one more than Wayne State and Southwest Minnesota State both with 17 points, while Upper Iowa filled out the pole with 13 points.
            Hughes, a 5-10 senior forward from Randolph, Iowa (Shenandoah HS), averaged 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while starting all 24 contests. She scored double figures in 14 of the 24 games
            Wayne State will open the 2022-23 season at home on Friday, November 11^th hosting Newman University of Kansas at 4 pm at Rice Auditorium.