SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— The Drury Lady Panthers are picked to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and they received the maximum number of first-place votes in the league's preseason coaches' poll released by the conference yesterday.
Drury received 15 first-place votes, the maximum amount as coaches cannot vote for their own team in the poll. Lewis was selected for a second-place finish while Bellarmine was picked third.
The GLVC will compete as a 16-team league in 2019-20 and for the second year in a row, will not feature divisional play. Two new teams enter the league this year as the conference welcomes Lindenwood (picked to finish fifth) and Southwest Baptist (voted for a 12
th place finish). The top eight teams in the league, as determined by a point system, will advance to the GLVC tournament March 5-8 in Edwardsville, Illinois.
The Lady Panthers return all five starters, 11 letter winners, and brings four newcomers to a team that finished 35-1 and advanced to the NCAA-II national semifinals last year. Should Drury live up to their preseason selection, they would win the league for an unprecedented fourth straight year. Last year, the Lady Panthers went undefeated in the regular season, went 18-0 in the GLVC, and they won the league tournament for the third year in a row.
Fans can get their first look at the 2019-20 edition of the Lady Panthers on Saturday when they host Columbia in an exhibition game at 1 pm in the O'Reilly Family Event Center. Drury opens the regular season on Nov. 1 against Simon Fraser in the CCA Division II Tipoff Classic in Anaheim, California.
2019-2020 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll (First Place Votes)
1. Drury 225 (15)
2. Lewis 190
3. Bellarmine 181
4. Southern Indiana 178
5. Lindenwood 175,
6. (tie) Maryville 159 (1)
Truman State 159
8. McKendree 119
9. Missouri-St. Louis 102
10. William Jewell 89
11. Indianapolis 87
12. Southwest Baptist 74
13. Rockhurst 71
14. Missouri S&T 50
15. Illinois Springfield 41
16. Quincy 20.
GLVC News Release
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