Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Women's Basketball Picked Last in MVC Preseason Poll
10/30/2001 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 30, 2001
St. Louis, Mo. - Southern Illinois University's women's basketball team was picked to finish 10th in the 2001-02 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, announced this morning at the Valley's annual basketball media day in St. Louis, Mo.
The Salukis, who finished ninth in the MVC last season with a record of 7-20, 4-14, tallied just 53 points in the overall voting by league coaches, sports information directors and members of the media.
For the first time since the 1988 preseason, the league had a unanimous favorite as Drake was picked to clinch the 2001-02 MVC regular-season title. Prior to this season, the last league team picked No. 1 on every ballot was SIU for the 1987-88 campaign.
This year, Drake, which was an NCAA tournament team a year ago, and tied for the regular-season title with Southwest Missouri State (an NCAA Final Four team last year), received 37 out of a possible 37 first-place votes to take 370 points in the poll. The Lady Bears then followed with 306 points, while Northern Iowa (283), Evansville (259) and Wichita State (233) rounded out the top five.
Creighton (195), who is coming off a season which saw the Bluejays win 17 games, are picked sixth, while the remaining four slots nearly mirror where league teams finished in last year's standings -Indiana State (7th-125 pts.), Bradley (8th-123 pts.), Illinois State (9th-88 pts.) and SIU (10th-53 pts.).
Drake and SMS are not a surprise pick for the league's top two spots, as one of those two teams has claimed or shared the Valley's regular-season title every year since 1990, including 14 of the previous 18 seasons for women's basketball.
2001-02 Preseason Poll 1. Drake (37) 370 2. SMS 306 3. Northern Iowa 283 4. Evansville 259 5. Wichita State 233 6. Creighton 195 7. Indiana State 125 8. Bradley 123 9. Illinois State 88 10. Southern Illinois 53
Quotes from MVC Women's Basketball Media Day
Holly Teague
On the team's 10th place pick in the Valley's Preseason Poll - "Being the underdog in this year's preseason, we have some new coaches on the team and the intensity has been real well in practice. I think we are a lot better than our ranking says and it doesn't matter about the preseason polls, you just have to get it done on the floor."
Molly McDowell
On Backcourt - "I think our backcourt is definitely going to be the solid part of our game. Some of our inside/post players and newcomers, however, are also going to have to step it up in order for us to be successful. Those people have been doing that so far in practice and everyone has been playing well."
On condition after shoulder surgeries - "I don't know if I'm 100 percent yet, but I am getting closer every day. I don't see myself missing any time this year and I hope to be contributing in the same ways that I did a year ago."
On coaching changes - "I think the intensity level is different this season. Our two new coaches (Carl Clayton, Tricia Floyd) have brought a lot of excitement and intensity to this program and that is what is going to help us in our success this year."
On Coach Opp's absence - "Coach Opp has been out of practice because of her illness, but has been slowly coming back. The assistant coaches have really stepped it up, but Coach Opp is still in the mix. She has been watching film and still knows everything that is going on up to this point."
Assistant Coach Tricia Floyd
On head coach Lori Opp's condition - "Coach Opp was released from the hospital last Wednesday. Her spirits are very high and she has been at practice anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, working her way up to being there the full time. As a team, we are working our way on taking that step in the right direction."
