ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced on Wednesday (Oct. 16) that Lewis University's women's basketball team was picked to finish second in the GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
The GLVC regular season will be a 16-team round robin format for eight pairs of travel partners with each team playing a second game against its travel partner and four other opponents for a total of 20 games. The top-eight teams with the most points derived from the GLVC Point Rating System at the end of the regular season will earn a berth to the GLVC Basketball Championship Tournament on March 5-8 at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois, on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
The Flyers, who went 27-5 overall and 16-2 in GLVC action last season, was picked second in the poll with 190 points. Lewis finished second in the loop and were the No. 2 seed for the 2018-19 GLVC postseason event, falling in the semifinals but garnering a NCAA Regional at-large berth for the 14th time in program history and seventh year in a row. The Flyers will have to replace last year's D2CCA Player of the Year and three-time GLVC Player of the Year in
Jessica Kelliher (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North) – who also finished her career as the Lewis and Conference all-time leading scorer with 2,764 points – but return two starters in senior forward
Rachel Hinders (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) and junior guard
Kaitlyn Williams (Homer Glen, Ill./Joliet Catholic).
The Flyers open their 2019-20 season with an exhibition contest at Northwestern on Wednesday (Nov. 6) at 7 p.m. (CST). Lewis will host Michigan Tech in its home opener as part of the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge on Saturday (Nov. 9) at 3 p.m.
GLVC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
| Place |
Team |
Points (1st-place votes) |
| 1. |
Drury |
225 (15) |
| 2. |
Lewis |
190 |
| 3. |
Bellarmine |
181 |
| 4. |
Southern Indiana |
178 |
| 5. |
Lindenwood |
175 |
| 6. |
Maryville |
159 (1) |
| 6. |
Truman State |
159 |
| 8. |
McKendree |
119 |
| 9. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
102 |
| 10. |
William Jewell |
89 |
| 11. |
Indianapolis |
87 |
| 12. |
Southwest Baptist |
74 |
| 13. |
Rockhurst |
71 |
| 14. |
Missouri S&T |
50 |
| 15. |
Illinois Springfield |
41 |
| 16. |
Quincy |
20 |
