Upper Iowa women's basketball has been selected to finish fifth out of 15 teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The poll is led by reigning GLVC Regular Season and Tournament Champions Lewis, as they received 190 points with nine first place votes. They defeated Drury 79-67 in last year's championship game and Drury finished second in the poll with 183 points and five first place votes. McKendree rounds out the top three with 158 points and the final first place vote. They finished second in the GLVC last season, before being upset by Upper Iowa in the GLVC Tournament Quarterfinals.
The Peacocks garnered 130 total points to finish fifth where they trail fourth-place finisher Maryville at 140 points and rank ahead of sixth ranked Rockhurst with 128 points.
Head Coach
Justin Maass is back for his third season with Upper Iowa where he is joined by assistant coaches
Bridgette Griffin and
Mackenzie Kielty. The Peacocks had a very successful 2023-24 campaign as they posted a 15-13 record, accumulating their highest win total since the 2001-02 season. UIU's success resulted in them having three all-conference honorees for the first time in school history while qualifying to the playoffs as a #7-seed on a game winning three pointer. In the Quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament, Upper Iowa defeated #2-McKendree 79-66 before coming up just short against nationally ranked Drury 88-82 in the semifinals.
Upper Iowa lost five players to graduation, but return all ten of their remaining players from last year.
Mia Huberty looks to lead the charge during her senior season as she earned All-GLVC Second Team honors in 2023-24. Huberty ranked second on the team with an average of 15.4 points per game on 44.5% shooting from the floor while posting a team-leading 3.4 assists per game. Fifth year
Kayla Bohr ranks second amongst returners with a 9.0 points per game average on 45.4% shooting. She scored in double figures eleven times which included a career-high 21 points in Upper Iowa's GLVC Tournament victory over McKendree. Senior
Helen Staley appeared in six games last year due to an injury, where she averaged 6.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Over the course of those games, Staley led the GLVC with a 2.3 assist to turnover ratio. Junior sharpshooter
Amelia Valentino appeared in all 28 games off the bench last season, and she will look to have a bigger role as she averaged 4.5 points per game on 42.4% shooting from beyond the arc.
The Peacocks open the season on the road against Augustana on November 14th which will be their first of six nonconference games on the year. They will begin GLVC action at Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on December 2nd against Quincy and will close out the regular season at home on March 1st against Lewis, for their 20th conference game of the year.
The top eight teams will qualify for the GLVC Tournament which will begin on March 6th with the championship game being held on March 9th.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
| Place |
School |
Points (1st-place votes) |
| 1. |
Lewis |
190 (9) |
| 2. |
Drury |
183 (5) |
| 3. |
McKendree |
158 (1) |
| 4. |
Maryville |
140 |
| 5. |
Upper Iowa |
130 |
| 6. |
Rockhurst |
128 |
| 7. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
109 |
| 8. |
Quincy |
109 |
| 9. |
Indianapolis |
105 |
| 10. |
Illinois Springfield |
80 |
| 11. |
Truman State |
75 |
| 12. |
Missouri S&T |
70 |
| 13. |
Southwest Baptist |
47 |
| 14. |
Lincoln |
26 |
| 15. |
William Jewell |
25 |
