Women's Basketball

Cougars Picked Close Second in GLVC West
         EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville women's basketball garnered three first-place votes and finished a close second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll.
         The voters in the coaches poll selected Drury as the favorite. The Panthers picked up the four other first-place votes. After Drury and SIUE, the GLVC West was ranked Southern Indiana third, Missouri-Rolla fourth, Quincy fifth, Rochurst sixth and Missouri-St. Louis seventh.
         SIUE coach Wendy Hedberg, who announced earlier this fall this will be her last season as the team's head coach, returns four starters from last season's NCAA Tournament team. SIUE finished the 2006-2007 season with a 20-9 record.
         This also is the final year for the Cougars in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. SIUE will be playing an NCAA Division I schedule in the 2008-2009 season.
         All-American Amber Shelton (Edwardsville), Whitney Sykes (Pontoon Beach), Amy Austin (Jeffersonville, Ind.), and Elyse Morris (Prophetstown) return to the starting lineup for Coach Hedberg. Shelton averaged a team-leading 19.4 points per game. Sykes led the team in three-point and free throw shooting. Austin averaged 3.3 assists per game and started all 29 games. Morris led the team in assists with 3.4 per contest.
         The GLVC East Division was a bit more divided with four different teams earning first-place votes. Bellarmine, which has not won the league crown since the 1995-96 season, received four first-place votes and earned the top spot in the poll. Northern Kentucky and Kentucky Wesleyan followed in second and third place, each receiving one first-place nod. Indianapolis was picked in fourth followed by Lewis in fifth, UW-Parkside in sixth and Saint Joseph's in seventh. Lewis received the other first-place vote.
         The GLVC's 14 coaches voted in the poll. The season opens Nov. 15 culminating with the GLVC Tournament, which will be held March 6-9.
         The complete 2007-08 GLVC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll follows:

 
West Division
Team (First-place votes)    Total Points 
Drury (4)                       34
SIU Edwardsville (3)            33
Southern Indiana                25
Missouri-Rolla                  22
Quincy                          16
Rockhurst                       10
Missouri-St. Louis               7
 
East Division
Team (First-place votes)    Total Points 
Bellarmine (4)                  33
Northern Kentucky (1)           29
Kentucky Wesleyan (1)           27
UIndy                           21
Lewis (1)                       18
UW-Parkside                     12
Saint Joseph’s                   7