(Minot, N.D.) -- The Minot State women's basketball team was selected 8th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division women's basketball preseason poll, which was announced by the league office on Thursday.
Minot State was selected eighth in the North Division with eight points and 15th overall with 40 points. MSU-Moorehead was chosen first in the North Division and selected as the overall preseason favorite.
Last season the Beavers finished 12th in the conference with an overall record of 13-16 and fifth in the North division, finishing with an 8-14 record in conference play.
Senior guard
Mariah Payne was selected as the NSIC Player to watch for the Beavers. Last year she averaged 12.6 points per game, 3.7 assists per game, and shot 39% from the field. Among returners, Payne is the leading scorer and the assist leader for the team.
Head Coach
Mark Graupe is expecting
Calli Delsman,
Anna Counts and
Haley Hildenbrand to step up to the plate this upcoming season. Last season Delsman averaged 7.4 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game, and Counts averaged 2.6 points per game and 2.1 rebounds per game. Hildenbrand started 25 games for the Beavers last season where she averaged 6.9 points per game and four rebounds per game.
The Beavers have seven newcomers
Bethany Theodore (JUCO),
Victoria Obergfell (JUCO)
ShaAnn Danelson,
Breianna Smestad,
Soda Rice,
Sophie Wedar,
Brenna Tschetter.
Theodore played for Midland Junior College, where she played and started in every game for her school. She averaged 8.5 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game, where she was named honorable mention for her conference and named WNIT ALL-Tournament team for the 2018-19 season. Obergfell played for Dakota College of Bottineau, where she started in 21 games averaging 21.4 points per game and led the team in scoring and rebounds.
Graupe expects the two junior college transfers to fill big shoes for the Beavers this season.
The Beavers have a brand new coaching staff.
Taylor Henningsgard is the lead assistant coach. She played for Graupe while coaching at Dickinson State.
Ryan Clark is a graduate assistant coach who went to Dickinson State as well. It was there that Graupe was able to get a feel and see how Clark was as a player and person.
Maverick Harris is the new Director of Basketball Operations. Last year he was a graduate assistant at Minot State University.
