For the first time in more than a decade the Murray State women’s basketball team will begin the season nationally ranked in the Top 25 as the NJCAA Preseason Poll was released on Monday.
The Lady Aggies, who return four players with starting experience from last year’s 27-6 national tournament team, were tabbed 23rd in the early Division I rankings.
“This is great for our program and a tribute to what we have done in our four years here and what we hope to continue to do,” head coach Steve Lowe commented. “Obviously, this is a product of what we accomplished last year and it will be up to this team to perform up to those standards against what I think will be the hardest schedule we have played since I’ve been here.
“We are going to face some stiff challenges and see how the girls respond to adversity. All it’s going to do is make us better.”
The Lady Aggies open the season Wednesday, Nov. 2 at home against a strong Collin County squad before a Homecoming date on Friday, Nov. 4 against RPA Prep.
A week later they travel to the rugged LSU-Eunice Classic where they will face the host Lady Bengals as well as the seventh ranked team in the nation from Jones College, which reached the Final Four a season ago.
That should help prepare the Lady Aggies for conference play that begins November 17 with three of the expected top league foes on tap right out of the gate in NEO, NOC-Enid and Seminole.
“We’ve got a lot of really good opponents from Texas on the schedule with Grayson, Paris, Panola and Hill which will test us a lot,” Lowe added. “With the injuries we are coping with right now, that’s not the challenge we were hoping for. Hopefully we can get people healthy quickly.”
NJCAA Division I Preseason Poll
1. Tyler Junior College
2. Shelton State
3. Trinity Valley
4. Northwest Florida State
5. South Georgia Tech
6. Blinn Junior College
7. Jones College
8. South Plains
9. Hutchinson
10. College of Southern Idaho
11. Chipola College
12. New Mexico Junior College
13. Casper College
14. Walters State
15. Moberly Area
16. Gulf Coast State
17. Arizona Western
18. Salt Lake College
19. McLennan
20. Eastern Florida State
21. Wabash College
22. Barton Junior College
23. Murray State
24. Angelina College
25. Monroe College
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