HeroSports ranks MSSU women 15th in preseason poll

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern Women's Basketball team has been tabbed 15th in the HeroSports.com D2 Pre-Season Poll.

HeroSports.com is a ranking algorithm and sports media site that maximizes the exposure of schools by giving them an equal playing field to distribute their content. The various advanced metrics they display are of our own creation and the result of seasons of simulations. They use a data-driven algorithm to rank and file each team in the country. Top to bottom, in Division I, II and III across basketball, football and soccer. They delve deeper into the Top 25 than any other ranking service, providing a road map to where every school ranks and how they have performed to date. They use a dynamic strength of schedule measurement that evaluates the true value of a team's wins. Did the top ranked team live up to expectations and cover the spread against the cellar dweller? Or did they play down to their level and narrowly escape defeat? Quality wins are crucial to us as they try to figure out which teams are truly contenders.

Joining the Lions in the top 25 are five other MIAA schools with Emporia State and Pittsburg State in the number 1 and 2 positions. Fort Hays State comes in at number four, the Lions are next at 15th and followed by Central Missouri (19th) and Washburn (24th) to round out the top 25. The full top 25 ranking can be found at the bottom of this article.

Hubbard returns nine players from last season in which the Lions earned a first round by in the MIAA Post-Season Tournament before falling 70-64 to Central Missouri in the quarterfinals at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Returning is second team All-MIAA selection senior Sharese Jones who led the team in both scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg). Joining Jones in returning to the Lions are seniors Kenya Wilson-Brown, Tami Morice, and Verjell Bowleg along with sophomores Jordan Dinyer, Jenson Maydew, Anna Hignight, Dru Clark, and Kayla Kivinski. Hubbard and staff also added a JUCO transfer Deb Holcomb(St. Louis CC), D1 transfer Bri Shavers (New Orleans), senior transfer Sayna Azad (The Hauge University), and local freshmen Desirea Buerge(Webb City HS) and Chelsey Henry(Neosho HS).

The Lions open their season on November 8 as they travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the Razorbacks in an exhibition at 2 p.m.

BR TEAM
1 Emporia State
2 Pittsburg State
3 Adelphi
4 Fort Hays State
5 Alaska-Anchorage
6 Lewis
7 Wayne State (MI)
8 Ashland
9 Michigan Tech
10 Drury
11 Wayne State (NE)
12 Western Washington
13 California (PA)
14 Northern State
15 Missouri Southern
16 Florida Tech
17 Seattle Pacific
18 Southern Indiana
19 Central Missouri
20 Stonehill
21 Nova SE
22 West Texas A&M
23 Indiana (PA)
24 Washburn
25 Grand Valley State