Women's Basketball picked seventh in MVC Preseason Poll
10/30/2006 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 30, 2006
www.siusalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Southern Illinois women's basketball team was picked seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, the league announced Monday at its annual media day.
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This is the first time since 1997-98 that the Salukis have not been picked in the bottom three.
SIU finished eighth in the Valley in 2005-06 after being picked last in the preseason poll. The Salukis are coming off of a 10-18 campaign, the best finish at Southern since the 1997-98 season.
Saluki head coach Dana Eikenberg was not surprised where her team was picked, having been picked 10th in her previous two years.
"We are excited to get the season started," Eikenberg said. "Beginning our third season, we want to get to work on putting ourselves back in the upper echelon on this conference. We return four of five starters and a deeper bench. We return a group that is a lot more experienced and confident that understands what our style is about."
For the first time in four years, Drake was tabbed as the favorite, earning 373 points and 28 of 40 first-place votes.
The Bulldogs return eight players, inlcuding Jill Martin, the lone unanimous pick for the preseason all-conference team.
SIU's Carlai Moore, the lone senior on SIU's 11-member roster, was also a preseason All-MVC pick. She attended the league's media day, touching on the upcoming season and the Salukis' work in the offseason.
"This is my second year at SIU and in this conference," said Moore, the 2006 MVC Newcomer of the Year. "I'm looking forward to the season. I think our team chemistry, along with the hard work we put in over the summer together has done wonders for our team. We're ready to go out every night and work hard."
Wichita State (345 pts.) and Northern Iowa (274 pts.) round out the top-three spots in the poll, with Wichita receiving 10 first-place votes.
Meanwhile, Evansville (242 pts.), Illinois State (237 pts.) and Indiana State (227 pts.) were also picked ahead of the Dawgs, while Missouri State earned 176 points to sit even with SIU in seventh.
Creighton (84 pts.) and Bradley (66 pts.) were picked ninth and 10th respectively.
SIU tips off its 2006-07 season at home against Missouri, Nov. 12.