INDIANAPOLIS – Twelve programs were ranked in order with the Cavaliers of Walsh earning top honors in the release of the 2021-22 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour on Wednesday.
Only two teams secured first-place votes, the preseason favorite Cavaliers and new league member Ashland. Walsh earned seven first-place votes for a total of 116 points while the Eagles are close as runner-up with 112 points picking up five first-place votes.
The 2020-21 season was memorable as four Great Midwest programs cemented their status as NCAA qualifiers in the Atlantic Regional. The league’s strength was on display as Cedarville, Walsh, Kentucky Wesleyan and Tiffin, all went to Columbus for March Madness.
The conference tournament was a wild ride that included No. 5 seed Tiffin pulling a championship upset in overtime. The Dragons then made their mark in the NCAA Championship bracket, advancing all the way to the Sweet 16 and the Atlantic Region final after beating Kentucky Wesleyan and Glenville State.
Star guard Aarion Nichols was on fire during Tiffin’s tournament runs, scoring 20+ points in four straight games while drilling a buzzer beater to send the championship game into overtime. The Dragons hang their hat on defensive toughness under head coach Miriam Justinger, coming in as the league’s best scoring defense from a year ago (63.6 ppg).
The Cedarville Yellow Jackets were crowned regular season conference champions with an 18-4 record in league play in the final year of Kari Hoffman’s reign as head coach. After Hoffman departed for Wright State in the offseason, Cedarville starts a new era with Jason Smith leading the program.
Walsh returns just about everyone possible from last year’s squad in a COVID-riddled campaign that affected so many teams and student-athletes. At times, teams just could not be at their full strength while relying on top-to-bottom roster depth to get through a year with various obstacles. The duo of Mayci Sales and Sha Carter are among Division II’s top tandems while combining to score almost 36 points per game.
Under head coach Kari Pickens, Ashland brings program prestige as a new member and wants to make an immediate splash after charging through the Midwest Region final to the championship game against Drury. The Eagles beat Grand Valley State and Michigan Tech and junior forward Annie Roshak’s 21 points per game would have ranked third in the league last year.
Findlay forward/center Sydney Kin is the league’s top returning scorer at 21.4 points per game. Kin was also tied for second in the league in rebounds (9.3) while being the only player in the conference to shoot over 60 percent from the field. The Oilers tied with Tiffin in the balloting with each program in fifth place.
Kentucky Wesleyan came in third with 94 points after the Panthers went 18-6 overall and finished as the regular season runner-up. Based on last year’s fourth-place finish, Ohio Dominican took a little bit of a tumble picked seventh but return the conference freshman of the year Gabby Stare and assists league leader Kennedy Schlabach, who also averaged 19 points per game.
Malone was polled eighth while Trevecca Nazarene and Ursuline each tied for ninth. Hillsdale and Lake Erie rounded out the preseason poll, respectively, while gearing up for the 2021-22 season.
The first Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top-25 Poll will be released on for Division II at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Six teams from the regular season standings will qualify for the Great Midwest Championship tournament. For most teams, the regular season tips off on Friday, Nov. 12, in the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge Crossover. The conference schedule picks up on Thursday, Dec. 2, with all 12 teams making their league debut.
Great Midwest Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
| School |
Points |
| 1. Walsh (7 first-place votes) |
116 |
| 2. Ashland (5 first-place votes) |
112 |
| 3. Kentucky Wesleyan |
94 |
| 4. Cedarville |
85 |
| t5. Findlay |
82 |
| t5. Tiffin |
82 |
| 7. Ohio Dominican |
59 |
| 8. Malone |
51 |
| t9. Trevecca Nazarene |
37 |
| t9. Ursuline |
37 |
| 11. Hillsdale |
25 |
| 12. Lake Erie |
12 |