The University of Minnesota Morris women’s basketball team finished in fourth place in the UMAC Preseason Poll, released by the conference office on Tuesday. The Cougars are coming off of a 6-4 season during a shortened 2020-21 campaign and return their top seven scorers off of last year’s team.
Bethany Lutheran College will enter the season as the undisputed favorites in the UMAC, ending with 49 points and seven first-place votes. The University of Northwestern was slotted into second place with 41 points and one first-place vote. Third place went to North Central University, which climbed the conference rankings and tied with Northwestern for last season’s regular season title. The Rams ended with 36 points, while the Cougars were behind them in fourth place with 31 points.
The bottom half of the UMAC poll had the University of Wisconsin-Superior in fifth place with 27 points, Martin Luther College in sixth place with 18 points, Northland College in seventh place with 14 points, and Crown College bringing up the rear in eighth place, ending with eight points.
Minnesota Morris had three UMAC honorees last season, including Lexus Eagle Chasing being named as a First Team All-UMAC selection after averaging 17.3 points per game as a junior. Jadyn Sondrol was the second-leading scorer for the Cougars as a sophomore at 11.5 points per game and she was Honorable Mention All-UMAC. Jay Kwateh earned UMAC All-Defensive Team accolades after finishing with 2.4 steals per game in her sophomore season.
The 2021-22 season opens on Nov. 5, with Minnesota Morris hosting Concordia College (MN) at 6 p.m. at Jim Gremmels Court. UMAC play begins on Dec. 10 with the Cougars hosting North Central and the regular season concludes with Senior Day on Feb. 19 with UMN Morris hosting Northland.
