Burnsville, Minn. - The reigning NSIC Champions of Concordia-St. Paul were selected as the 2013-14 NSIC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ favorite in the overall and in the NSIC South Division poll. They received 217 points and 10 first place votes. Minnesota State was a close second with 214 points and five first place votes. Wayne State was third with 176 points while last year’s NSIC/Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament Champions of Augustana College came in fourth.  The Vikings received one first place vote.  St. Cloud State was fifth overall and the coaches’ choice in the north division.

NSIC coaches rank each team from 1 to 15 with a first place vote receiving 15 points, second place 14, third place 13, etc. Coaches do not rank their own team or vote for their own players.  

The regular season champion will be based on the 22-game NSIC schedule.  Each team will play teams in their division twice (14) and teams in the other division once (8).  An NSIC North and South Division Champion will also be awarded.  Divisional standings will also be based on all 22 NSIC contests played.  In the case of a tie, co-champions will be awarded. The 16-team NSIC / Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place Sat.-Tues., March 1-4 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.  First round games will be played on the campus of the top eight seeds on Wednesday, Feb. 26.

The 2013-14 NSIC Women’s Basketball season gets underway on Friday, November 8 and NSIC action on the week of November 25.

Whiting has been selected by the league coaches as the NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year. She is the reigning NSIC Player of the Year and was named a Bulletin All-American Fourth Team and Daktronics All-American honorable mention last season.  She helped lead the Golden Bears to a 23-7 record and a regular season NSIC title as well as a trip to the NCAA Tournament.  Whiting ranked third in the league in scoring at 17.6 points per game and 11th in the league in rebounding at 7.2 boards per game while shooting 53.1% from the field and 75.2% from the free throw line.  Whiting made a big step forward last season after being named All-NSIC Second Team and averaging 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a freshman.  She scored in double figures in 29 of the Golden Bears’ 30 games and broke the 20 point mark ten times.  She also contributed seven double-doubles.

Newman has been selected by the league coaches as the NSIC North Division Preseason Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Newman has earned All-NSIC honors in each of her first three seasons at UMD with first team selections the past two years after being named the league’s top newcomer in 2010-11. Also an All-NSIC Academic team selection, Newman had more twenty-point games (nine) than single-digit scoring outputs (four) in 2012-13 while averaging nearly 16 points, eight rebounds, and three steals on the season. Overall, she averages 13.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, making good on 41.7 percent of shot attempts in her Bulldog career.

2013-14 NSIC Women’s Basketball Players to Watch

AUGUSTANA - #12 Emily Schulte (G, 5-7, Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D. / O’Gorman HS) started all 35 games during the Vikings NCAA Final Four run.  She was named NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Most Valuable Player as she recorded 74 points, 17 rebounds, 14 assists, and nine steals in the four games.  She led the Vikings in steals with 74 and dished out 126 assists, second on the team, and ranked seventh in the conference with a 1.39 assist-to-turnover ratio. She averaged 10.1 points, third on team, and 3.4 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game. She shot 36.4 percent from the field, 31.9 percent from three, and 85.4 percent from the free throw line while scoring a career-high 21 points, including career-best 10-10 from the free throw line, at U-Mary on March 2 in second round of NSIC Tournament.  She sank three 3-pointers and scored 11 points and recorded four assists in Augustana’s win over No. 1 and previously unbeaten Clayton State on March 26.

BEMIDJI STATE - #10 Morgan Lee (G, 5-7, Sr., Hayward, Wis. / Hayward HS) will serve as captain in 2013-14 for the second consecutive season. With 928 career points, Lee is 72 points shy of becoming the 16th player at Bemidji State to reach the 1,000 point plateau, while her 149 career 3-pointers rank sixth all-time at BSU. Lee started all 27 games in 2012-13. She led the team and finished 12th in the NSIC in scoring with 13.8 points per game. Lee knocked down 64 3-pointers on 190 attempts to post a 33.7 percentage from beyond the arc. Her 64 3-pointers made ranked fourth in the NSIC and 56th nationally. She shot 36.7 percent from the field, went 47-for-59 (79.7%) from the charity stripe and added 70 rebounds, 45 assists and 26 steals. She played 30.44 minutes per game to sit 20th in the league. Lee concluded the season with 20 games in double figures scoring, which included four games with 20-plus. She racked-up a career-high 32 points at Mount Mercy (Nov. 20) that sits tied for seventh all-time on Bemidji State’s single –game scoring list. She went 8-for-15 from 3-point range in the game to tie for the NSIC’s 3-pointers attempted lead in 2012-13. She shot 57.9 percent from the field in the contest and for her efforts was named NSIC Player of the Week.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - #20 Carissa Wolyniec (G, 5-11, Sr., Minneapolis, Minn. / DeLaSalle HS) was an NSIC All-Academic performer last season and started 28 of 30 games, averaging 10.1 points and 3.4 rebounds.  Wolyniec led the Golden Bears with 73 threes made and shot 38.0% from beyond the arc. She shot a team-best 83.3% from the free throw line and 39.1% overall from the field.  Wolyniec has been a consistent offensive presence the past two seasons averaging double digits both years.  She has scored in double digits 29 times, including 14 times last season.  She will be counted on for production from the perimeter again this year.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY - #42 Brittney Dietz (F, 5-10, So., Beach, N.D. / Beach HS) made an immediate impact on a veteran University of Mary squad last season as a redshirt freshman with her ability to run the floor and finish on the fast break. Named to the 2012-13 Northern Sun All-Freshman team, Dietz was third on the Marauders in scoring and among league leaders in free throw shooting and field goal percentage. The 5-10 forward averaged 9.4 points and 3.4 rebounds as one of U-Mary’s first players off the bench. Dietz shot 51.6 per cent from the floor, a team-high and sixth in the NSIC. She also led the Marauders in free throw percentage at 81.9 per cent, ninth in the NSIC. Now a sophomore, she is one of four returning players from last year’s 19-11 squad.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON  - #21 Katrina Moenkedick (F, 5-10, So., Perham, Minn. / Perham HS) had a stand-out freshman campaign for the University of Minnesota Crookston during the 2012-13 season en route to an All-NSIC Freshman team nod. Moenkedick was the second leading scorer for UMC last season, averaging 9.6 points per game and was third on the team in rebounding with 4.3 boards per contest. Moenkedick had a career-high 20 points in a narrow loss to Wayne State College (Neb.). She tallied 19 points and nine boards in a 75-67 win over St. Cloud State. She also tallied one double-double on the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a loss to University of Mary. Moenkedick shot 47.8 percent from the field last season. She will be looked to as one of the team’s leaders in 2013-14.

MINNESOTA DULUTH  - #11 Alyssa Kerkhoff (G, 5-6, Jr., St. Peter, Minn. / St. Peter HS) started the final 22 games for the Bulldogs in 2012-13 while playing in all 27. She ranked in the top 25 in minutes among NSIC players with 30.22 per game. Kerkhoff made good on 36.6% of her overall shot attempts including 29.4 from beyond the arc.  She averaged 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in 2013, improving her career average to 5.0 points and 4.1 boards. She also posted career-highs with 37 assists and 43 steals in her second season with the Bulldogs.

MINNESOTA STATE - #42 Ali Wilkinson (F, 6-0, Jr., Blue Mounds, Wis./ Wisconsin Heights HS) played in all 32 games for the Mavericks, starting 3, as she led the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.3 points per game (552  points) and 7.9 rebounds per contest (252 rebounds). She recorded a team-high 59 steals and connected on 191-of-346 (55%) of her shots from the field and 16-of-37 (43%) from behind the arc. Wilkinson received Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American Honorable Mention as well as Women’s Division II Bulletin (WDIIB) All-American Honorable Mention. She was named to the 2013 Daktronics Women’s Basketball All-Central Region Team and to the 2012-13 NSIC All-Conference First Team.  

MSU MOORHEAD - #33 Morgan Zabel (F, 5-10, Sr., Northfield, Minn. / Northfield HS), after a solid junior campaign, is one of the Dragons’ top returners. She was named to the All-NSIC second team and earned NSIC Player of the Week honors in February last year. She finished second on the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game and also shot team-best 46.2 percent from three-point range. She appeared in 28 games, with three starts, but also was fourth on the team at 29.3 minutes per game. Zabel had 19 double-figure scoring games and had a career-high 24 points in win over No. 17-ranked Augustana (2/8/13). She also had 67 assists and 31 steals. Over the past three seasons she has appeared in 82 games with 40 starts and has scored 692 points in her career.

MINOT STATE -  #40 Carly Boag (F, 6-2, Sr., Tamworth, Australia / Abbotsleigh HS) started in all 27 games for Minot State as a junior and led the Beavers in points (18.0 ppg), rebounds (11.8 rpg), steals (2.7 spg) and blocks (1.1 bpg) during the season. She ranked second in the NSIC in scoring and first in rebounding. Her top game was when she scored 33 points and grabbed 20 rebounds against Minnesota Crookston (2/16). Boag was named All-NSIC First Team, First Team All-Central Region and earned Daktronics All-American Honorable Mention honors.

NORTHERN STATE - #32 Alison Kusler (G, 5-8, Sr., Aberdeen, S.D./Central HS) was a Second Team All-NSIC selection last year for NSU as she led the Wolves in scoring in 2012-13, averaging just over 13 points per contest. The senior from Aberdeen Central High School also averaged five rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per contest for Northern. Alison led the team shooting 35 percent from three-point range on the year and her 84 percent free-throw percentage was sixth-best in the conference.

SIOUX FALLS - #32 Laura Johnson (F, 6-0, Sr., Cedar Falls, Iowa / Cedar Falls HS) averaged 13.3 points per game for the Cougars during the 2012-13 season. Johnson ended the year ranked in the NSIC’s top-10 in six statistical categories. Her 35.44 minutes per game average was second only to Katie Wolff of Winona State (35.65) and she finished third in defensive rebounds per game (6.93). She ended the year shooting 86.8% (59 of 68) from the free throw line, fourth-best in the NSIC and a new USF single-season record. She also stood sixth in three-point field goal percentage (42.6%), tied for sixth in blocked shots per contest (1.11) and seventh in three-point field goals made (60). In her career at USF, she has scored 966 points and shoots 36.7% from behind the arc. She also is 25 made three-point shots away from becoming the USF career leader in 3-point shots made.

SMSU - #14 Bree Holleman (G, 5-7, Sr.,  Hancock, Minn. / Hancock HS) has played in 72 games in her SMSU career with 46 starts while ranking eighth all-time in 3-point field goal made (112). She also ranks seventh all-time in 3-point field goals attempted (312) and she netted her 100th career 3-point field goal on Jan. 5, 2013, versus Upper Iowa. Holleman missed SMSU’s last nine games of the 2012-13 season with an injury, but prior to that, she appeared in 20 games, making 20 starts. She finished the season making 34 3-point field goals and averaged 10.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

ST. CLOUD STATE - #32 Jessica Benson (F, 6-0, Sr., Grand Meadow, Minn. / Grand Meadow HS) started all 28 games last season and averaged a team-high 14.8 points a game. Benson also led the team in rebounds (7.2/game) and blocked shots (24). Five times during the season Benson grabbed double-doubles in points and rebounds. Her season high came against Southwest Minnesota State on Jan. 11, 2013 when she connected on 12 of 21 shots from the field and six of seven from the charity stripe to finish with 32 points. Benson shot .427% from the field last season and her 15.0 points per game in NSIC games put her in 9th place on the scoring charts, 10th in rebounding and 14th in field goal percentage. St. Cloud State posted a 19-9 overall record, finished the NSIC schedule with a 14-8 mark and clinched the NSIC North Division title.

UPPER IOWA - #13 Whitney Kieffer  (G, 5-9, Jr., Scales Mound, Ill. / Scales Mound HS) was named as an All-NSIC First Team performer as a sophomore and an All-NSIC Freshman Team selection her first year.  She started every game last season for the Peacocks marking the second straight year of perfect attendance at the opening jump ball.  Kieffer averaged 32.8 minutes per game, the 14th most among NSIC players, and averaged 18.7 points per game in those minutes.  The sophomore’s scoring ranked 15th in the nation and 3rd in the NSIC as she racked up 560 points on the year, the second highest total in Peacock history; Christel Brown netted 579 points during the 1985-86 season.  For her career, Kieffer has scored 971 points and is just 29 points shy of becoming the 11th women’s basketball player to reach the 1,000 point plateau.  The last UIU player to reach the mark was Christa Hammel in January 2008.Last season, Kieffer scored in double figures in 25 of her 30 games including 14 games that she scored over 20 points.  She tied her career-high in points, 31, in the first game of the season against William Jewell College and netted 30 later in the year against the University of Minnesota, Crookston.  Kieffer set a new career-high in rebounds this season after snaring 17 at Southwest Minnesota State University in January.  She recorded 7 double-doubles this season.

WAYNE STATE - #44 Jordan Spencer (F, 5-11, Jr., Omaha, Neb. / Millard West HS) was a First Team All-NSIC selection last season after leading the 17-10 Wildcats in scoring (15.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg).  Spencer ranked seventh in the NSIC in scoring, 13th in field goal percentage and 19th in rebounds per game.  She had five double-doubles last season and scored a career-high 27 points at Minnesota Crookston on January 11, 2013.  Last season, Spencer shot 47. 5 percent from the field (160-337) and 71.7 percent from the free throw line (99-138).  Spencer also excelled in the classroom and was one of six Wildcat players named to the NSIC Winter All-Academic Team.

WINONA STATE -  #24 Abby Busch (F, 5-10, Sr., Fairfax, Minn. / G-F-W HS) is a two-year starter for the Warriors and returns to the team’s starting lineup after averaging 9.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as a junior. Busch made herself a fixture at the free throw line, shooting 80 percent from the charity stripe while leading the team with 110 made free throws. The forward scored a career-high 22 points at Upper Iowa while posting double-doubles against Concordia-St. Paul (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Wayne State (15 points, 10 rebounds). She also had ten points while grabbing seven rebounds and five assists in the NSIC Tournament semifinal against Minnesota State.

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