Women's Basketball picked sixth in MVC Preseason Poll
10/13/2020 | 3:13:00 | Women's Basketball
ST. LOUIS – The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, the conference announced Tuesday.
Last year's regular season champions, Missouri State, claimed 33 of the 40 first-place votes and topped the poll, while Bradley, UNI, Drake and Illinois State round out the top-five.
The Salukis, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Cindy Stein, return nine players from last season's team that went 16-13 and knocked off a ranked opponent for the first time since 1991.
Two-time all-conference honoree Makenzie Silvey highlights the returners. The senior guard from Glen Carbon, Ill. finished the 2019-20 season ranked seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring (14.8). Abby Brockmeyer, who enters her senior campaign just 85 points shy of 1,000 for her career, returns after a junior season in which she averaged 10.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest.
In addition to returning nine letterwinners from a year ago, the Salukis add a talented quintet of newcomers to the mix in 2020-21. Freshmen Quierra Love, Sydney Prochaska, Adrianna Katcher and Jeniah Thompson all arrive in Carbondale after accomplished high school careers, while transfer Janell Douvier will also suit up for the Salukis this season. Douiver is a junior transfer from Platt Community College in Wichita, Kansas, where she was a two-time all-conference honoree.
The Salukis are tentatively set to open the 2020-21 season on Nov. 25 when they host the Eastern Michigan Eagles.
