Owensboro, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan women's basketball team has been picked sixth among the 13 teams in the annual Great Midwest Women's Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll, as announced by the league office Thursday afternoon.
Wesleyan came in a tie for fourth in last year's poll before finishing sixth in the 2024-25 standings.
This year's edition of the Panthers includes just six returners from last year's squad: Myah Montgomery (10.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG), Riley Neal (9.8 PPG and 4.9 RPG), Emma Bruwer (6.7 PPG and 2.4 RPG), Vilborg Jonsdottir (6.0 PPG and 3.5 APG), Carson Sisk (3.6 PPG and 3.4 RPG), and Lena Stinebrickner (1.5 PPG and 0.8 RPG).
Wesleyan has nine newcomers in the program this season, with eight of those being freshman (Ricky Kapteijn, Lily Hoagland, Georgia Acompanado, Alexis Shehan, Avah Montgomery, Ella Finley, Hilary Shikuku, and Samantha Shehan) and the other being a transfer (Iratxe Amorrortu Sainz).
Caleb and I are so excited by what this group of people have decided to be about during the early part of our time together. They have been consistently working and improving individually and collectively to allow for all of us to enjoy our practices as we learn more about each one of them," head coach Nicole Nieman said. "They are all eager to learn and that creates an awesome atmosphere. We hope, as we do with every season, to give our best each day and find ways to measure our success that requires more than the outcome of a game. If we can continue to find ways to improve, along with focusing on each other rather than outcomes, we know we have the opportunity to achieve anything together."
Ashland, the defending conference champions, ran away with the top spot after accumulating 154 points and nine first place votes. Malone (143 points and two first place votes) and Northwood (138 points and two first place votes) rounded out the top three.
The Kentucky Wesleyan women's basketball team tips off their season on Saturday, November 8, in an exhibition matchup against Tennessee Southern at 3:00 PM inside the Owensboro Sportscenter.
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