The Minnesota State Mankato women under coach Emilee Thiesse combined with the Mankato men to win both NCAA D2 national championships last March, something that has happened previously just once ever. The men, as we said in a previous post, having lost 3 starters, will have a tough row to hoe in trying to repeat even in the NSIC, much less in the NCAAs.
The women have lost their best player, their leader, all-American guard Joey Batt and also Emily Herzberg, but 6 of their top 8 contributors return, led by combo guard Destinee Bursch (with a 15-3-3 line and 48% shooting). 5-11 junior wing Natalie Bremer was in fact their leading scorer with 16 ppg. The 6 returnees scored a combined 54 ppg last year, the most returning points among the Minnesota teams in the NSIC. So, yes, they can and they will repeat as NSIC champions. In this I am merely agreeing with the coaches’ poll, in which Mankato got 12 of 15 1st place votes, while Northern State (SD) got the other 3.
The coaches picked Concordia St. Paul for 3rd place and Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall 4th. CSP returns 6-1 senior center Lindsey Becher (16-4) and 3 other starters and a total of 35 ppg. Southwest State returns the NSIC pre-season player of the year in 5-8 senior guard Bri Stoltzman (19-7-4-2) and a total of 44 ppg.
The coaches further have St. Cloud State in 5th, MSU Moorhead in 6th, and Minnesota-Duluth in 8th. The 3 feature coaches Lori Fish in her 17th year, Karla Nelson in her 25th year and Mandy Pearson in her 10th year. Coach Nelson and Moorhead has the best player among the 3 in 5-8 senior guard Natalie Jens (15-4-4-2) while St. Cloud has the top freshman in Kylan Gerads from Albany.
UM Crookston is not going anywhere. The coaches have them 12th out 15 teams. But 5-foot-1 Emma Miller is a walking, talking miracle, with her 17-6-3 line.
My Choices (Minnesota teams only)
1. Minnesota State-Mankato 18-4
2. Southwest Minnesota State 16-6
3. Concordia St. Paul 15-7
4. St. Cloud State 13-9
5. Minnesota-Duluth 11-11
6. Minnesota State-Moorhead 10-12
7. Winona State 9-13
8. UM-Crookston 6-16
9. Bemidji State 3-19
Top Players (Minnesota only)
C-Lindsey Becher, CSP 6-1 sr 14-6-47%
PF-Ashley Sawicki, St. Cloud St. 6–1 junior 11-7-47%
SF- Natalie Bremer, Mankato 5-11 jr 16-4-47%
PG-Bri Stoltzman, Southwest State 5-8 sr 19-7-4-2-47%
SG-Hannah Herzig, Mankato 6-0 junior 8-3-2-41% came off the bench last year