ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Southern Illinois University women’s basketball team was voted to finish 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, which was released Tuesday morning.
Southern Illinois received a total of 167 points in the poll.
Drake was picked as the preseason favorite, tallying 566 total votes and 39 first-place votes. The Bulldogs were followed up by Northern Iowa (504, six first-place votes) and Belmont (475, three first-place votes).
Katie Dinnebier from Drake was chosen as the Preseason Player of the Year and was joined on the Preseason All-Conference Team by teammate Anna Miller, Northern Iowa’s Grace Bofelli and Maya McDermott, Missouri State’s Lacy Stokes, and Murray State’s Katelyn Young.
Murray State and Missouri State were picked to finish fourth and fifth respectively, with UIC then in sixth, Illinois State in seventh, Valparaiso in eighth, and Indiana State at ninth.
Bradley and Evansville were voted to end up in 11th and 12th in the Valley.
The Salukis are coming off of an eighth-place finish in 2023-24, ending the year with a record of 11-20 overall and 6-14 in MVC play.