ST. LOUIS – Drake University has been tabbed as the preseason favorite in the MVC's women’s basketball race in the annual survey of the league’s coaches, sports information directors and media.

The Bulldogs recorded one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2016-17, finishing 28-5 overall and 18-0 in MVC play. Drake advanced to the NCAA Tournament after claiming the MVC regular season and tournament titles, winning a school record 22-straight games.  Drake received 31 of 40 first-place votes and 356 total points, out-distancing Missouri State (323), UNI (311) and Southern Illinois (256).

Drake returns three starters, including All-MVC selection and Freshman of the Year Becca Hittner, as well as honorable mention All-MVC selections Sammie Bachrodt and Becca Jonas.  Hittner averaged 12.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during her rookie season. Also, back are Maddy Dean and Sara Rhine who each missed all or most of the 2016-17 season due to injury. Dean missed the entire season and Rhine played in eight games. Dean and Rhine were the 2015 and 2016 MVC Freshman of the Year, respectively. Drake head coach Jennie Baranczyk enters her sixth season at the helm of the program. Baranczyk, who in 2016-17 led the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament and MVC championship since 2007, has won an impressive 99 games in her tenure. She has led the team to three-consecutive 20-plus win seasons. Baranczyk was named the MVC Coach of the Year and the espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year after the historic 2016-17 season.

Missouri State welcomes back four starters from last season’s 16-15 (12-6 MVC) team that returned to the postseason for the third-straight year, earning a bid into the NIT. The Lady Bears bring back the bulk of their statistical production from last season despite having a 2017-18 roster that includes eight underclassmen and just five juniors and seniors. MSU returns 80.4 percent of its scoring output from last year, 79.2 percent rebounds, 80 percent of steals, 72.5 percent of assists and 78.1 percent of games started. Senior Liza Fruendt averaged 16.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last year, earning first-team All-MVC honors and is the leading returning scorer among players who were in the conference last season. Kellie Harper’s first full recruiting class is now in their senior year, with the quartet of Fruent, Aubrey Buckley, Audrey Holt and Lee Ann Polowy remaining intact from signing day to their final season. Together, that group has played in 333 total games, scoring more than 2,100 points and combining for over 1,000 rebounds and nearly 250 3-pointers.
 

2017-18 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

Rank	Team (1st-Place Votes)	Points
1.	Drake (31)	356
2.	Missouri State (7)	323
3.	UNI (2)	311
4.	Southern Illinois	256
5.	Indiana State	231
6.	Bradley	216
7.	Illinois State	139
8.	Evansville	132
9.	Valparaiso	131
10.	Loyola	105

Fruendt was also tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year, headlining the Valley's preseason all-conference team, which also includes Drake's  Sammie Bachrodt and Becca Hittner, UNI's Ellie Howell and  Southern Illinois' Kylie Giebelhausen.

Northern Iowa enters the 2017-18 season after earning the program’s first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, going 24-9 overall and 15-3 in MVC action. Five new Panthers will be added to the mix this season, as UNI will look for a fourth-straight postseason berth. The Panthers welcome back two starters as sophomore Megan Maahs and Mikaela Morgan return to the lineup. UNI also returns MVC Sixth Player of the Year and first-team All-MVC selection Ellie Howell for her junior season.  Howell, averaged 12.2 points per game, while Maahs chipped in 7.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest. Morgan averaged 7.2 points per game as a sophomore. Head coach Tanya Warren enters the season as the all-time wins leader at UNI. Warren holds a record of 186-139 over her 10 seasons with the Panthers.

Southern Illinois finished the 2016-17 season with a 16-15 overall record and a 10-8 mark in MVC action. SIU posted a winning record for the third-straight season, the longest such streak for the Salukis in 20 years, and made its second-straight postseason appearance in the WBI. Senior guard Kylie Giebelhausen returns to lead a young Saluki squad that will feature four freshmen, six sophomores, three juniors and one senior. Giebelhausen finished the season ranked within the top-15 of the MVC in six statistical categories en route to earning first-team All-MVC honors. The East Peoria, Ill. native begins the season 62 points shy of becoming the 26th Saluki to score 1,000 career points.

Indiana State brings back three starters from last season’s team (12-18, 6-12 MVC). Senior Ashley Taia earned honorable mention All-MVC honors as a junior, averaging 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Indiana State’s Wendi Bibbins earned MVC Newcomer of the Year honors in 2016-17 after averaging 10.2 points and 8.3 rebounds, leading the Sycamores in scoring in 10 games last season. Junior Tiara Webb started all 30 games for the Sycamores, averaging 7.7 points and 3.5 rebounds. The trio of Taia, Bibbins and Webb accounted for over half of the program’s offensive production from a year ago. The three players combined for 30 points last season, accounting for 54.4 percent of the teams’ offense.  
 
Bradley returns three starters from last year’s group (12-19, 7-11 MVC), including senior guard Anneke Schlueter, who averaged 10.5 points per game. Schlueter has started 62 consecutive games and her team-best 780 career points are the most by a Bradley player entering their senior year since Katie Yohn in 2012-13.  Sophomore forward Chelsea Brackmann had a big impact during her freshman season, breaking the school record for rebounds by a freshman and earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team.  She was the first Bradley player since 1991-92 and first MVC freshman since at least 1995-96 with 235 points, 200 rebounds, 45 assists, 30 blocks and 20 or more steals. In her first year as head coach of the Braves, Bradley alum Andrea Gorski led her alma mater to an improved overall and MVC win total in the same season for the first time since 2008-09.  

Illinois State welcomes back three starters from the 2016-17 squad as the Redbirds will look to replace the top two scorers from last season (8-23, 4-14 MVC). Junior Katrina Beck and senior Hannah Green are the squad’s top-two returning scorers, with Beck averaging 8.7 points and Green averaging 6.6 points per game last season. Green also had a historic season on defense, rejecting a MVC-best 75 shots, which was the second-most in program history. The Redbirds, who were one of the youngest teams in the nation a year ago, will still be youthful with two freshmen, six sophomores, four juniors and one senior. After seven newcomers entered the program last season, first-year head coach Kristen Gillespie will welcome three, including junior Simone Goods, the 2017 Spalding® NJCAA DII Women’s Player of the Year.
 
Evansville returns two starters from last season’s squad (14-17, 8-10 MVC) as the Purple Aces amassed an 11-win improvement over the 2015-16 campaign. Senior guard Brooke Dossett is the leading returning scorer for UE, averaging 9.3 points with 100 assists a year ago.  Junior Kerri Gasper also returns to the starting lineup for the Purple Aces this winter.  Gasper averaged 8.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest as a sophomore.  Head coach Matt Ruffing recorded the second-best record in a coach’s first full season in program history. Ruffing’s 14 wins were just shy of Misty Murphy’s 15 victories in the 2008-09 season.

Valparaiso enters its first season in the Missouri Valley Conference after going 10-21 overall in its final season as a member of the Horizon League. The Crusaders return four starters and will look to build on a solid finish to the 2016-17 season.  Valpo finished the season going 4-4 over its final eight games of the regular season, its best eight-game finish to a season of the Tracey Dorow era. Dani Franklin enters her senior season with 1,236 career points, which already ranks sixth in program history. In 2016-17, Franklin became the first Valpo player in the last 23 years to score 500 points in a single season. She finished the season with 559 total points, the second most in program history. Franklin will enter the 2017-18 season as the leading returning scorer among all players in the MVC, averaging 18.0 points per game a year ago in the Horizon League.

Loyola returns all five starters from last season’s team that finished the season 2-28 and 1-17 in MVC play.  The returning group is highlighted by senior Katie Salmon and the sophomore duo of Kaitlyn Williams and Tiara Wallace.  Salmon was the only Rambler to start in all 30 games last season as she averaged a team-best 8.8 points per game.  Williams established herself as a viable threat from beyond the three-point arc, averaging two treys per game, while Wallace dished out a team-high 83 assists (3.0 apg), leading all Valley freshmen in the category.  Along with its returning letter winners, Loyola will add a talented group of six newcomers in the upcoming season.

Preseason voters have correctly selected the conference’s regular-season champion 20 times in 34 seasons, but since the poll was expanded to include sports information directors and media in 1994-95, pollsters have accurately predicted 15 of the 23 champions. Preseason favorites have played in 26 postseasons, including 18 NCAA Tournaments with one Sweet 16 and one Final Four appearance.
 

2017-18 MVC Preseason All-Conference Team

Player, Team	POS.	CL.	HT.	Hometown
Sammie Bachrodt, Drake	G	Jr.	5-10	Wichita, Kansas
*Liza Fruendt, Missouri State	G	Sr.	5-10	Batavia, Illinois
Kylie Giebelhausen, Southern Illinois	F	Sr.	6-1	East Peoria, Illinois
Becca Hittner, Drake	G	So.	6-0	Urbandale, Iowa
Ellie Howell, UNI	G	Jr.	5-9	Manson, Iowa

  *Preseason Player of the Year