BAY CITY - The Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team has been selected to finish in fourth place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division for the 2014-15 season.
The Lady Cardinals finished with 100 points in the annual GLIAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, just seven points behind third place Grand Valley State. The Lakers received three first-place votes while #2 Michigan Tech had three as well and finished with 156 points. Northern Michigan was selected to win the North Division, garnering 13 first-place nods while totaling 168 points.
SVSU sophomore forward and 1012-13 GLIAC "Freshman of the Year" Emily Wendling was chosen as a preseason All-GLIAC North Division First Team selection as well, one year removed from a medical redshirt due to injury in the 2013-14 season.
Click here for 2014-15 SVSU Women's Basketball GLIAC Preview Page
2014-15 Saginaw Valley State Preview (by Brian Lester, GLIAC contributor)
Coach: Jamie Pewinski is entering her fourth season as the head coach of the Cardinals
Overview: The Cardinals enter the year with high expectations after playing in the GLIAC tournament last season. One of the keys to duplicating that success will be forward Emily Wendling, who is back after sitting out with a medical redshirt last year. Wendling was the freshman of the year in the GLIAC two years ago as she recorded 10 double-doubles and averaged 15 points per outing. Wendling's presence gives the Cardinals a chance to win every time they take the floor. Junior guard Katelyn Carriere and senior forward Samantha Zirzow also return. Carriere averaged 12.5 ppg and Zirzow put up 11.6 ppg. SVSU averaged 72.9 ppg and only allowed 69.3. As far as newcomers go, the Cardinals have added a talented freshman in guard Jessica Alexander. She won 92 games in her high school career and helped her team finish as the state runner-up twice in Indiana.
Noteworthy: Emily Wendling is a solid shooter. She ranked 20th in the country in field goal percentage as a freshman, knocking down 53.1 percent of her shots.
Saginaw Valley Sports Information Preview
Having made significant improvements in each of the past two seasons, the Saginaw Valley State University women's basketball team is looking to take the next step during the 2014-15 season. Coming off the program's first back-to-back GLIAC postseason appearances since the 1997-98 seasons and a season with the most wins (14) since 2003-04, the ladies will have a healthy slate of returners ready to keep things going. Despite losing roughly 43% of the scoring from last year's team, the returns of Katelyn Carriere (12.5 ppg) and Samantha Zirzow (11.6 ppg) as well as the return from injury of 2012-13 GLIAC "Freshman of the Year" Emily Wendling (15.0 ppg) should help the offense stay on track for this upcoming season.
At the helm of the bunch is 2013-14 GLIAC "Coach of the Year" Jamie Pewinski, who has now led the team to back-to-back years finishing .500 or better in league play for the first time since the 1997-98 seasons. The Lady Cardinals open the season at the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge with games against Lewis and St. Joseph's on November 14-15 at Northwood University.
