BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team was picked to finish 12^th overall and seventh in the South Division in the annual Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Wednesday from the NSIC office.

MSU Moorhead was chosen as the preseason overall favorite with 213 points and 10 first-place votes (coaches can't vote for their own team). Northern State was picked to finish second with 209 points (four first place votes), followed by Augustana (200, two votes), Wayne State (182) and Winona State (152) rounding out the top five.

Concordia-St. Paul (140, two votes) was picked to finish sixth overall, placing ahead of Minnesota State (132), Minnesota Duluth (126), U-Mary (125) and Sioux Falls (123). St. Cloud State was selected 11^th overall (91), followed by SMSU (58), Minnesota Crookston (51), Bemidji State (43), Upper Iowa (39) and Minot State (36).
 
Augustana earned 47 points to top the NSIC South Division poll, followed by Wayne State (44), Winona State (33), Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State (29), Sioux Falls (20), SMSU (14) and Upper Iowa (8).
 
MSU Moorhead was chosen as the favorite to win the NSIC North Division with 47 points.
 
Wayne State senior forward, Paige Ballinger, was named the NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year for a second straight year, while MSU Moorhead senior forward, Drew Sannes, was named the NSIC North Division Preseason Player of the Year.
 
SMSU senior forward, Lauren Hedlund, was again named an NSIC "Player to Watch" in 2017-18. Hedlund begins the new season just 17 points shy of becoming the 19th women's basketball player in the SMSU 1,000 point club. Hedlund ranks seventh in SMSU history in career rebounds per game (7.1) and is second all-time in offensive rebounds per game (3.0). Hedlund's 93 offensive rebounds last season was the seventh most for a single season in SMSU history.

SMSU will officially begin its second season under Head Coach, Tom Webb, on Nov. 10 vs. Missouri Western State in the MIAA/NSIC Challenge in Fayette, Iowa.

SMSU will open its home schedule against Waldorf (Iowa) on Nov. 18 at 4 p.m., before opening NSIC play on Nov. 25 at Sioux Falls.