ELMHURST, Ill. – Coming off an appearance in the Summit League semifinals a season ago, the IUPUI women’s basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Summit League Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll released Thursday afternoon.
Kerah Nelson was voted to the Preseason All-League First-Team, while
Katie Comello was named to the second-team.
South Dakota State was picked to finish first overall and accumulated 330 points, while Kansas City, the Summit League runner-up last year, was picked second. Oakland was tabbed third, North Dakota State fourth, and IUPUI was fifth with 213 points, including one first-place vote.
Rounding out the poll was South Dakota in sixth, Western Illinois in seventh, Fort Wayne in eighth, and league newcomer Omaha in ninth.
“We were picked ninth a year ago, so being picked fifth in the preseason poll shows that we’re moving in the right direction,” said head coach
Austin Parkinson. “At the same time, I think our kids have higher goals and aspirations for this season.”
Oakland’s Bethany Watterworth was selected as the league’s Preseason Player of the Year and joined Nelson on the Preseason First-Team along with UMKC’s Kim Nazianya and Eilise O’Connor, South Dakota State’s Ashley Eide and North Dakota State’s Katie Birkel.
Nelson led IUPUI in scoring and rebounding as a junior averaging 16.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg en route to being named a first-team all-conference performer for the first time in her career. Nelson accumulated 518 points on the season, placing her sixth on the IUPUI single-season points chart in addition to becoming IUPUI’s single-season points leader in the Division I era.
“It’s great to be named to the first-team because there are a lot of talented players in this league,” Nelson said. “While individual honors are nice, we have a lot of team goals we want to reach this year and those are what we are focused on.”
Comello earned Summit League All-Newcomer Team honors last season after averaging 10.1 ppg and she ranked eighth in the league in assists (3.1), seventh in 3-point field goals made (1.7) and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2). Her top performance of the season came against Oral Roberts on Jan. 14, scoring a career-high 28 points, which included six three-pointers.
Comello was joined on the second team by North Dakota State’s Janae Burich, Omaha’s Paige Frauendorfer, Western Illinois’ Saule Kontautaite and Oakland’s Zakiya Minifee.
“We made some great strides last year and we wanted to prove that we were a good team,” Comello said. “This year, our focus is on winning a championship and we’re excited about our team.”
IUPUI finished with a 13-19 record in 2011-12, a nine-win improvement from the previous season. In Summit League play, the Jags went 7-11 to place fifth.
Including Nelson and Comello, the Jags welcome back 10 returners from last year’s squad that will look to continue their ascent up the Summit League standings. Additionally, two players who sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules,
DeAirra Goss and
Jordan Barton, and three true freshmen in
Nicole Rogers,
Akilah Sims and
Shawnece Teague are set to make their debuts for IUPUI in 2012-13.
IUPUI plays its lone exhibition at home on Monday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. against Franklin College, before beginning its regular season at The Jungle on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Noon against Grace College.
|
2012-13 Summit League Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll |
|
Place |
Team |
Points (1st) |
2011-12 Record |
|
1. |
South Dakota State |
330 (22) |
24-9 (16-2) |
|
2. |
Kansas City |
260 (1) |
22-12 (11-7) |
|
3. |
Oakland |
234 |
11-17 (7-11) |
|
4. |
North Dakota State |
221 |
11-20 (8-10) |
|
5. |
IUPUI |
213 (1) |
13-19 (7-11) |
|
6. |
South Dakota |
151 |
23-8 (12-6) |
|
7. |
Western Illinois |
138 |
12-19 (7-11) |
|
8. |
Fort Wayne |
96 (1) |
9-21 (6-12) |
|
9. |
Omaha |
43 |
15-12 |
|
Preseason All-League Teams |
|
Preseason Player of the Year: Bethany Watterworth, Oakland |
|
|
|
First Team |
|
Katie Birkel, G |
North Dakota State |
|
Ashley Eide, G |
South Dakota State |
|
Kerah Nelson, F |
IUPUI |
|
Kim Nezianya, F |
Kansas City |
|
Eilise O’Connor, G |
Kansas City |
|
Bethany Watterworth, F/C |
Oakland |
|
|
|
Second Team |
|
Janae Burich, C |
North Dakota State |
|
Katie Comello, G |
IUPUI |
|
Paige Frauendorfer, G |
Omaha |
|
Saule Kontautaite, G |
Western Illinois |
|
Zakiya Minifee, G |
Oakland |
