Rio Grande women's basketball picked No. 1 in RSC preseason poll

The University of Rio Grande women's basketball team has been tabbed as the preseason favorite in the River States Conference according to balloting of the league's head coaches.

The 2023-24 preseason coaches' poll, along with the RSC Preseason All-Conference Team, was announced on Thursday as part of the league's Women's Basketball Media Day activities.

The preseason poll was voted on by the 13 head coaches in the conference, while the preseason all-conference team includes the top 10 returning players to watch this upcoming season.

Rio Grande, which finished 30-4 last season en route to an appearance in the Round of 16 of the NAIA National Tournament, received 11 of the 13 first-place votes and 143 total points in the voting.

The RedStorm, which won both the RSC regular season and tournament championships last season, also return junior guards Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg) and Azyiah Williams (Ripley) as members of the RSC Preseason All-Conference Team.

Rio Grande was also the clear favorite in the RSC East Division, getting all 12 possible first-place votes to lead the division. Conference newcomer Shawnee State University was picked second in the East, while Alice Lloyd (Ky.) College got the remaining first-place vote and finished third.

Head coach David Smalley's squad opens its season on Nov. 4 when UC-Merced visits the Newt Oliver Arena in the Woods Lumber Classic.

Oakland City (Ind.) University was second in the overall poll with 128 points and the remaining two first-place votes. The Mighty Oaks were 22-10 last season and made the NAIA national tournament as an RSC Championship semifinalist.

Oakland City features two players on the preseason team in guard Emilee Hope and center Jalaya Dowell.

Shawnee State was picked third with 108 total points, while Alice Lloyd was fourth with 103 points to make it three of the top four predicted teams coming from the RSC East Division.

The middle five teams in the poll feature Midway (Ky.) University, West Virginia University Tech, Point Park (Pa.) University, Indiana University East and St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) College.

The remainder of the 13-team league is rounded out by Indiana University Southeast, Indiana University Kokomo, Ohio Christian University and Brescia (Ky.) University.

Oakland City was tabbed as the RSC West Division winner with 10 first-place votes from the coaches. Midway was next with a pair of first-place votes and St. Mary-of-the-Woods received a top vote in the division as well.

Joining Rio Grande and Oakland City with two players on the RSC Preseason All-Conference Team was Alice Lloyd with guards Hannah Kash and Katie Jo Moore. The other four players on the team are center Alva Hedrich (WVU Tech), guard Kennedy Griffin (IU East), guard Brooklyn Jones (SMWC) and forward Anna Kiser (IU Kokomo).

A complete listing of the coaches' polls and the all-conference team can be found at http://www.riverstatesconference.com.