Northeastern State Women Picked Eighth In Preseason MIAA Poll

The Northeastern State women's basketball team was picked to finish eighth in the 2014-15 MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced Wednesday morning.

The RiverHawks earned 83 points in the coaches' poll and are projected to finish one place higher than their ninth-place effort from a season ago. The league is also projected to be extremely balanced once again. Four different teams received at least one first-place vote, and that did not include the champions from last year.

Emporia State led the way with 160 points total and five first-place votes. Pittsburg State was selected second with 153 points and five first-place votes. Washburn received 142 points and three first-place votes, and Fort Hays State was selected to finish fourth with 138 points and the final first-place vote. Central Missouri rounded out the top five with 127 points.

Northeastern State finished 11-17 last season and 7-12 in the MIAA. The RiverHawks return their two top scorers in senior guards Fontana Tate (11.2 ppg) and Chelsey Beathard (9.0 ppg).

The RiverHawks will kickoff the 2014-15 campaign with the MIAA GAC Challenge in Tahlequah. NSU will first play host to Northwestern Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 14 inside the NSU Event Center.

2014-15 MIAA PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

1. Emporia State (5) 160

2. Pittsburg State (5) 153

3. Washburn (3) 142

4. Fort Hays State (1) 138

5. Central Missouri 127

6. Missouri Southern State 94

7. Lindenwood 85

8. Northeastern State 83

9. Northwest Missouri State 74

10. Central Oklahoma 66

11. Missouri Western State 60

12. Southwest Baptist 44

13. Nebraska-Kearney 30

14. Lincoln 18