INDIANAPOLIS - The 2013-14 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball season will kick off this weekend, and much like the men, an expanded conference field has not only led to a more solidified field, but a much more deep and talented one. The upcoming season still has an overwhelming amount of questions of who will establish themselves as the conference’s best.
 
For now coaches have made their selections, but it is time to show it on the court, and either succeed as expected or show that the fresh start in a new look conference is just what was needed to compete at the highest of levels. With the depth of the G-MAC, it shouldn’t take long for the conference to make a name for itself nationally.  

 

Alderson Broaddus - The Alderson Broaddus women’s basketball team, which will join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in 2013-14, is coming of a season in which they finished just 8-20, but managed to pull off an upset in the first round of the WVIAC tournament last season, defeating Davis and Elkins, who is also joining AB as a new member of the G-MAC.
 
The Battlers did lose both of their top scorers in Leah Hurst and Amanda Peoples, along with five other seniors. AB will look to a lot of newcomers, as well as returners Nautica Davis (5.8 ppg) and Erica Brooks (5.6 ppg) for the offensive effort.
 
Alderson Broaddus was selected by the coaches to finish sixth and with all the unknowns it could be to low a ranking, a perfect ranking, or if things take longer to mesh, a little high for the Battlers. The unknown on the roster will be the most exciting part  to the early part of the season as the scouting of AB will be almost impossible for the majority of the early part of their schedule.
 
Cedarville - The Cedarville Lady Jackets, who were slated to finish third in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference after going 20-10 last winter in their first active season in NCAA Division II. The team has one advantage almost never heard of at any level of collegiate sports, the return their entire roster and have no new faces joining the team.
 
The familiarity with the program and with each other will be an early advantage as other teams are looking to build that communication on the floor as a team. Returning to lead the offensive attack again this season is Kayla Jenerette, who scored a team-high 16.0 points per game and was named to the G-MAC All-Conference First Team. Raegan Ryan, who also scored in double figures with 10.3 points per game, who was a G-MAC Honorable Mention with her teammates Kayla Linkous and Becky Orchard.

As a team, they averaged 67.6 points per game, while defensively they limited opponents to 62.3 points per game. The Lady Jackets will look to limit turnovers, while will help improve their defensive numbers and allow them to get more scoring opportunities as they will go up against a more expanded and deeper G-MAC in 2013-14.
 
Central State - The Central State women’s basketball team, which was picked to finish in the middle of the conference standings at fifth, just points behind Davis and Elkins, will enter the season looking to improve upon its 16-12 overall record. Even more, they will need to improve upon their performances in conference after going 2-6. Both conference wins came against Ursuline, which looks to be much improved this season, so if CSU is to improve it will look to its top returns to guide them. The one number that sticks out is that the Marauders went 5-1 against the G-MAC’s newest members coming in. So there is room for improvement.
 
Last year’s roster featured five seniors, but a majority of their production came from the youth on the roster. Junior Shakeira Lang returns after leading the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game, while Iniquia Snell was second with 10.5 points per game. The team did lose the third and fourth leading scorers, but more importantly they were the top two rebounders on the squad.
 
Davis and Elkins - The Davis and Elkins women’s basketball team was slated to finish fourth in the conference as they join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference for their first year in the Midwest region. After a 15-12 season and a 14-8 record in the WVIAC, the Senators will look to make a dramatic impact immediately in the G-MAC.
 
With the loss of their leading scorer, the Senators will most likely rely on Jorden Lykes, who was second in scoring with 11.6 points per game - just 0.1 points per game behind the team leader. Lykes is the team’s top returning rebounder as she pulled down 7.6 boards per game.
 
Lykes will be joined by fellow senior Alicia Lentz down low. The forward-center duo will establish their low-post talents, as Lentz is the second leading returner in scoring with 8.1 points per game and also second leading returner on the boards with 5.3 rebounds per game. She also shot a team best 55.2% from the floor.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan - Heading into its inaugural season in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference the Kentucky Wesleyan women's basketball team was selected to finish first in the leagues preseason coaches’ poll.

The Panthers are coming off one of the best seasons in program history, having won 20 games and advancing to the NCAA tournament for only the second time in the 37 year history of women’s basketball at KWC. The Panthers also earned its first-ever share of the GLVC East Division Championship as they wrapped up their final season with the conference. Finally, the team climbed to their highest spot in program history in the NCAA Midwest Region ranking at #5 in the final poll.

Can the Panthers repeat the success they found in 2012-13, if they can it will be because of the six returners leading the seven newcomers (six freshman and a transfer) after losing six from last year’s squad.The four seniors Kourtney Rhoads, Shelbi Tyra, Karyl Rhoads, and T’Essence Phelps, will be supported by junior Jordanne Gambill this season. Phelps is an All-Defensive Team selection and will head up the defensive effort.

The only team that the Panthers faced last season that will be a 2013-14 conference opponent is Trevecca Nazarene. In fact the two teams played twice, with each team claiming a win.
 
Ohio Valley - The Ohio Valley University women’s basketball program was selected to finish last in the G-MAC Women’s Preseason Basketball Coaches Poll. However, under Head Coach David Wadlington, the program has been moving in the right direction in his three seasons. With a roster heavy on guards and perimeter players, the Fighting Scots will look to score from the outside with improved accuracy.

Last season, with a roster filled with young talent, the team went only 2-20 overall and 2-16 in their previous conference. The two-years prior with some senior leadership, the team went a combined 25-30 and 17-27 in the WVIAC. Not exactly a postseason threat, but also far from the 2-20 season they posted a year ago.

Wadlington and the Fighting Scots will look to return to the middle of the pack and continue to make the climb to compete at the highest level over the next few seasons. Last season the team was led by Jasmine Gibson (ppg), Shelby Way (ppg), and Kayla Parsley (ppg), who all scored in double figures on average. Way led the team with 38 three-pointers, but shot only 27% (attempting 140 shots) from beyond the arc. She did lead the team in free throws, shooting 80.5% (103-128).
 
Salem International - The Salem International University women’s basketball program was selected to finish seventh in the G-MAC Women’s Preseason Basketball Coaches Poll, tied with the Ursuline College Arrows with 19 points in the poll.

Under first year Head Coach Rich Marshall, the Tigers will look to push the ball and create scoring opportunities through turnovers and pressure defense. The team has identified a plan for success by, as Coach Marshall put it in his preseason interview: coming together, working together, and staying together.

Last season, Salem was 4-22 overall as an Independent NCAA DII member, but joined the Great Midwest Athletic Conference to begin competition in 2013-14. The team did play seven games against future G-MAC members last season and went 1-6, defeating Ursuline at home for its only win.

Ursuline rebounded to close out the season with a win over the Tigers to split the season series.
As a team, they scored 53.4 points per game, but allowed 68.8 points per game. They will look to improve upon the numbers and will rely on top returner Porcha Davis, who led the team in scoring with 10.7 points per game.

Trevecca Nazarene - The Trevecca Nazarene women’s basketball team, which was voted to finish as the Great Midwest Athletic Conference runner-up in the women’s basketball coaches’ preseason poll, a season after the team won the regular season championship, but finished as the conference tournament runner-up.

The Trojans went 20-8 overall as they continue the transition in membership from the NAIA to the NCAA DII and the G-MAC. In conference play, the team went 7-1 earning the conference first-ever regular season title.

As a team, they averaged 74.6 points per game, led by Christina Curtner's 9.7 points per game. TNU averaged improved upon their scoring as the season went into the new year, averaging 80.6 points per game in conference play - which all took place after the New Year’s holiday.

Curtner will return as the go-to scoring threat, but she also led the team with 88 assists. Curtner was able to balance both scoring when needed and getting others involved when needed. Britt Bell was one of the returners that feed off of Curtner, averaging 9.0 points per game. The youth on the roster will allow Trevecca to grow over this season and into future season, as they feature only two seniors, and have four juniors and five sophomores on the roster.

Ursuline - The Ursuline College basketball team tied for seventh in the nine-team Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll. No team has more to overcome in 2013-14 than do the Arrows. Ursuline lost its home gym to a tornado just a few months ago and will become very comfortable with being on the road as home games will feel like additional road contests.
 
Coming off a 4-22 season, second year head coach Shannon Sword continues to make improvements and has made a big step with the addition of a talented seven-player recruiting class that features six freshmen and junior college transfer Emma Ricketts. In addition to the talent infusion, the seven newcomers bring an understanding of what it takes to be successful. Last year, those seven girls played on teams that went a combined 160-36 (.816).

The newcomers will join a backcourt led by senior Katie Cappello (9.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and junior Brianna Woods (9.0 ppg, 5.3 apg). With all the issues the Arrows will face this season, they will have a chance to get a signature win when they host the preseason G-MAC favorite at the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.