The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference released the 2020-21 women's basketball preseason coaches' poll, and the Peacocks were selected 8th in the NSIC South Division. The University of Minnesota Duluth was the unanimous choice in the north, while Minnesota State University, Mankato was selected at the top of the south division in the preseason poll.
In the preseason voting, Minnesota Duluth picked up all seven north division first place votes for 49 points. St. Cloud State was second with 41 points while MSU Moorhead was third with 37 points and the other first place vote (coaches cannot vote for their own team). In the south, Minnesota State amassed 43 points and three first place votes. Augustana and Winona State tied for second with 35 points and two first place votes each. Sioux Falls was fourth with 27 points and the final first place vote.
Upper Iowa returns five of their top seven scorers from a season ago for
Nate Oakland, UIU's second-year head coach. UIU went 3-26 overall and 2-20 in the Northern Sun in 2019-20 with wins over Concordia University-St. Paul and the University of Minnesota Crookston at home in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium.
"We have revamped and have begun the process of upgrading our roster," said Oakland. "There will be a lot of new faces on the court for us this season. We have eight newcomers, and we feel like they will help our returners build a solid foundation here. However, the biggest thing we needed was to have more competition in practice and more depth, and we feel that we have started to do that. I think our league is very, very good. What impresses me is how talented each team is and how many good coaches there are in our league. We know we have long way to go, but we cannot wait to get after it and start competing."
Sophomore
Jessica Musgrave led the Peacocks in scoring and rebounding with 14.7 points and 6.7 boards per game in her first year on the way to earning NSIC Freshman of the Year honors and the lead spot on the All-NSIC Freshman Team. Musgrave is back as UIU's Player to Watch this season after starting all 29 games last year and averaging a team-high 27 minutes. The Toledo, Iowa-native led the team in nearly every major category including points (426), scoring average (14.7), field goal percentage (.412), 3-pt field goal percentage (.409), rebounds (193) and steals (27); she also ranked second on the team with 38 assists and added 8 blocks.
"Jess had a very good freshman season – and honestly blew away our expectations," said Oakland. "She had a great off-season and has been outstanding this fall… when we have been able get in the gym. She leads our team on the floor with her competitive drive and relentless approach to the game. That has become very contagious this fall, especially for our younger players. We will continue to rely on her on the floor. The good news for her however, is I don't think she'll have to do everything for us to stay in games with some of the improvements we've made & some of the new players we've surrounded her with."
Musgrave is joined by senior
Natalie Dinius, who has tallied 740 points for the Peacocks over her first three years. Sophomores
Brooke Evenson and
Lexie Lodermeier will also be a big part of UIU's plans this season. Mixing in with the returners is a solid group of newcomers including some talented freshmen and transfers including
Katie Tornstrom, who averaged 6.9 points and grabbed 2.1 rebounds per game for Minnesota State University, Moorhead last season.
The NSIC schedule will be 16-games played over 8 weeks with teams playing the same opponent at one site on back-to-back days. The season will start with two non-conference games against one NSIC out-of-division opponent. The conference schedule will then consist of 14 games with teams playing each member of its division twice. For this season, the NSIC will only crown a North Division and South Division Champion.
The NSIC / Sanford Health Men's & Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place Thursday-Sunday, February 25-28 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The top four teams from each division will make up the eight-team field for the 2021 tournament.
The Peacock women's basketball team returns to the floor for the 2020-21 season in January with a road double header at St. Cloud State University on Jan. 2-3. UIU's first home weekend is scheduled for Jan. 8-9 against the University of Sioux Falls.
