CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Results of the American Rivers Conference's Women's Basketball Preseason Poll (as voted on by the league's head coaches):
| 2020-21 American Rivers Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| Rank |
School (1st place votes) |
Points |
2019-20 Record |
| 1. |
Wartburg (8) |
64 |
25-4, 14-2 A-R-C (Reg. Season & Conf. Tournament Champion/NCAA Second Round) |
| 2. |
Loras |
51 |
25-4, 13-3 A-R-C (NCAA Round of Sixteen) |
| T-3. |
Coe (1) |
48 |
16-11, 10-6 A-R-C |
| T-3. |
Simpson |
48 |
18-8, 10-6 A-R-C |
| 5. |
Central |
34 |
15-11, 7-9 A-R-C |
| 6. |
Luther |
32 |
15-10, 12-4 A-R-C |
| 7. |
Dubuque |
23 |
7-18, 3-13 A-R-C |
| 8. |
Nebraska Wesleyan |
13 |
7-17, 3-13 A-R-C |
| 9. |
Buena Vista |
11 |
1-24, 0-16 A-R-C |
After claiming regular season and conference tournament championships the past four seasons, Wartburg College is the coaches' pick to win the 2020-21 American Rivers Conference title. The Knights earned 64 points in the poll, recording eight of the nine first-place votes. Loras, last year’s regular season runner-up, is picked to finish second. Coe College received the final first-place vote, and is tied with Simpson College for fourth place with 48 points. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams. Capsules on all nine teams -- follow here:
New Coaches: Justin Smith, University of Dubuque. Smith spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the Spartans women's basketball promotion, before being promoted to head coach in May. Prior to his time at Dubuque, Smith spent 12 years of coaching at the high school level, most notably at Dubuque Hempstead High School.
National Spotlight: The A-R-C has a storied history of success in the NCAA Tournament and has stayed at the forefront of the National Spotlight with continued success in recent years. In the last five years the A-R-C owns an aggregate record of 15-8 in the National Tournament. In 2015 Luther advanced to the round of 32 after earning the League's Automatic Qualifier (AQ) bid. The following season saw Wartburg pick up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and battled their way to an appearance in the Final Four. Loras College also went dancing in 2016 after earning the Conference Tournament and AQ.
The Knight's success continued after the 2016 season, as they have now competed in five-straight NCAA Tournaments. The 2018 season, once again, saw Wartburg storm through the post-season field to earn a spot in the NCAA Final Four. The Knights turned in another deep post season run in 2019, advancing to the Elite Eight. Loras advanced to the 2019 NCAA Tournament with the program's first at-large bid. The Duhawk's 2020 campaign earned them a second-straight at-large bid to the big dance. Loras was set to play in the 2020 Round of Sixteen before the novel coronavirus pandemic shutdown the NCAA Tournament. Wartburg made their fifth-straight NCAA appearance in 2020, advancing to the round of 32.
The Schedule: For the first time since March 12 when the novel coronavirus pandemic shutdown college sports, American Rivers Conference women's basketball teams hit the hardwood in 2021. This year's American Rivers Conference season will be adjusted to an eight-game single round-robin schedule with an all-comers tournament at the end of the season. It will be the first time all of the teams will be invited to the tournament, which usually has six participants. The American Rivers Conference Tournament champion receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball tournament.
The first conference games of the season are scheduled for a week from this Saturday, January 23, with many institutions playing non-conference games prior to the start of conference play. All games prior to January 23, including those games between conference teams, will not count in the conference standings. As a COVID stop-gap, the published schedule has an ending of Saturday, February 20. The following week is designed to make up any games that are affected by the virus. The conference tournament will begin with the 8/9 game on Monday, March 1. The quarterfinals follow the next night, March 2. The semifinals are next on Thursday, March 4 with a championship game planned for Saturday, March 6.
The 2020-21 season kicked off on Sunday, January 3 when Wartburg took down Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) foe Edgewood College (Wis.) 60-51 in Waverly. The Knights also took down Upper Midwest Athletic Conference foe, North Central (Minn.) putting up 100-points in the 100-67 victory.
The Loras Duhawks debuted their season on Saturday, January 10 when they traveled to Mequon, Wis. to take on the Falcons of Concordia-Wisconsin out of the NACC, where they fell in a close game, 64-58.
Dubuque opened their season on Sunday, January 10 at home against NACC opponent, Edgewood College (Wis). The Spartans battled back from a 39-26 halftime deficit, but the comeback effort fell short as Edgewood pulled out a 74-69 victory.
Buena Vista and Simpson meet in Storm Lake, Iowa on January 16 to open each of their seasons in a game that will not count towards the A-R-C standings. Coe travels to Madison, Wis. to face the Edgewood College Eagles.
January 20 marks opening day for Nebraska Wesleyan. Nebraska Wesleyan and Buena Vista square off in Storm Lake, Iowa in a game that does not count in the conference standings.
The rest of the conference opens their seasons on Saturday, January 23, when A-R-C play begins. Central is set to travel to Dubuque, set to face the Spartans, and Simpson heads to Decorah, Iowa to face Luther.
2019-20 Season Review: The Knights were picked first in the conference's preseason poll and made true on the prediction, going 14-2 in A-R-C play and earning the No.1 seed in the conference tournament. The only regular-season conference losses for Wartburg was to Loras on January 11, 2020 and on the road at Simpson on January 22, 2020. Loras earned the No.2 seed in last year’s conference tournament after finishing 13-3 during regular season league contests. Luther earned the No.3 seed in the conference tournament followed by Coe, Simpson, and Central.
Wartburg, with three double-figure scorers, the Knights battled against the Loras Duhawks before pulling away late, winning the 2020 American Rivers Conference tournament championship, 67-54. The four-time defending conference champions thus earned the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.
Loras received an at-large selection to the 2020 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball tournament, for the second straight season and making it their fourth trip to the big dance since 2014. Loras would make a run in the tournament, getting to the Round of Sixteen before the Covid-19 pandemic canceled the rest of the tournament on March 12, 2020. For the second straight season, the Duhawks traveled to Greencastle, Ind. to DePauw University for the First and Second Rounds. In the First Round, Loras took down the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse out of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, 68-52. Setting up a rematch of 2019, the Duhawks took on host DePauw University out of the North Coast Athletic Conference for the second straight year in the Big Dance and got their revenge, taking down the Tigers on their home floor, 71-60. If not for the pandemic halting the tournament, Loras was set to play the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Round of Sixteen.
Wartburg made their fifth-straight and 14th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2020. Wartburg earned hosting rights for the first two rounds of the 2020 tournament, where they defeated Monmouth College 91-55, before falling to Whitman (Wash.) 67-63.
| 1st |
|
Wartburg College
Head Coach: Bob Amsberry (15th Season)
2019-20 Record: 25-4, 14-2 A-R-C (Reg. Season & Conf. Tournament Champion/NCAA Second Round)
2019-20 Conference Finish: 1st
Returning All-Conference: Payton Draper (First Team), Ally Conrad (Honorable Mention), Tori Hazard (Honorable Mention), Kaitlyn Volesky (Honorable Mention)
Starters Returning: 3
Starters Lost: 2
Bob Amsberry - “We cherish the opportunity to be spending time together as a team and look forward to competing." |
| Players to Watch: |
| Payton Draper - Forward (Sr.) |
10.6-ppg // 52.7-fg% // 8-blks |
| Ally Conrad - Forward (Sr.) |
6.7-ppg // 34.6-3pt% // 10-blks // 39-stls |
| Kaitlyn Volesky - Forward (Sr.) |
8.7-ppg // 9-blks // 68.4-fg% |
| Tori Hazard - Forward (Sr.) |
9.2-ppg // 25-blks // 63.8-fg% |
| Macy Harris - Guard (So.) |
6.7-ppg // 56.5-fg% // 30 stls |
| 2nd |
|
Loras College
Head Coach: Justin Heinzen (14th Season)
2019-20 Record: 25-4, 13-3 A-R-C (NCAA Round of Sixteen)
2019-20 Conference Finish: 2nd
Returning All-Conference: None
Starters Returning: 0
Starters Lost: 5
Justin Heinzen - “I really like this team's identity; they've shown flashes of really exciting play and I'm excited for their growth potential. We will be young with a good balance and play very unselfishly." |
| Players to Watch: |
|
| Madison Haslow - Forward (So.) |
52.5-fg% // 23-stls // 8-blks |
| Cierra Bachmann - Guard (So.) |
45.9-fg% // 78.6-FT% |
| Ashley Funk - Guard (Sr.) |
61.5-fg% // 54.5-3pt% // 80.0-FT% |
| Jaime Ryan - Guard (Jr.) |
46.7-3pt% // 6-apg |
| Jess Coulthard - Forward (So.) |
46.4-fg% // 15-stls // 7-blks |
| t-3rd |
|
Coe College
Head Coach: Kayla Waskow (4th season)
2019-20 Record: 16-11, 10-6 A-R-C
2019-20 Conference Finish: T-4th
Returning All-Conference: Jackie Feldt (First Team), Maddie Wilkins (Second Team), Jamie Feldt (Honorable Mention)
Starters Returning: 5
Starters Lost: 0
Kayla Waskow - “We return an experienced group who is eager to get out and compete. Even with a unique fall and shortened game schedule, our players have worked hard and look forward to great competition with the conference. We are thankful for all the people and work that has gone into allowing us to play and are excited for games during the second semester!" |
| Players to Watch: |
|
| Jackie Feldt - Forward (Sr.) |
15.3-ppg // 47-stls // 40-blks // 5.9-rpg |
| Jamie Feldt - Guard (Sr.) |
9.5-ppg // 55-stls // 37-blks // 54.9-fg% |
| Maddie Wilkins - Guard (Sr.) |
13.4-ppg // 20-stls // 86.7-FT% |
| Sydney Schroder - Guard (Sr.) |
46-stls // 103-asts // 4.2-ppg |
| t-3rd |
|
Simpson College
Head Coach: Brian Niemuth (34th season)
2019-20 Record: 18-8, 10-6 A-R-C
2019-20 Conference Finish: T-4th
Returning All-Conference: Cameron Kincaid (Second Team), Kia Rasmussen (Honorable Mention), Jenna Taylor (Honorable Mention)
Starters Returning: N/A
Starters Lost: N/A
Brian Niemuth - “Hoping to have a safe season and get to play." |
| Players to Watch: |
|
| Cameron Kincaid - Forward (Sr.) |
11.7-ppg // 84.3-FT% // 49.8-fg% |
| Kia Rasmussen - Guard (Jr.) |
11.5-ppg // 48.4-3pt% // 48.6-fg% |
| Jenna Taylor - Forward (Sr.) |
10.4-ppg // 96.2-FT% // 43.7-fg% |
| Cassie Nash - Guard (So.) |
11.3-ppg // 54.8-fg% |
| 5th |
|
Central College
Head Coach: Joe Steinkamp (4th season)
2019-20 Record: 15-11, 7-9 A-R-C
2019-20 Conference Finish: 6th
Returning All-Conference: Kelsea Hurley (Second Team)
Starters Returning: 4
Starters Lost: 1
Joe Steinkamp - "Excited to get started with some games this season. It was a difficult fall with limited practice time, but we have a talented group that's really excited to get started. We have a nice mix of returners and newcomers, and look forward to competing in one of the best leagues in the country. Our ladies believe in each other, and our coaches love coaching this group. We think it will be a fun year!" |
| Players to Watch: |
|
| Kelsea Hurley - Guard (So.) |
13.8-ppg // 82.1-FT% // 78-asts // 15-blks |
| Carson Fisk - Guard/Forward (So.) |
8.8-ppg // 69-asts |
| Sami Craig - Forward (Sr.) |
2.5-rpg // 24-stls |
| Payton Rogers - Forward (Sr.) |
6.3-rpg // 57.5-fg% // 11-blks |
| Maci Gambell - Guard/Forward (Jr.) |
9.7-ppg // 5.4-rpg // 30-asts |
| 6th |
|
Luther College
Head Coach: Amanda Bailey (10th season)
2019-20 Record: 15-10, 12-4 A-R-C
2019-20 Conference Finish: 3rd
Returning All-Conference: None
Starters Returning: N/A
Starters Lost: N/A
Amanda Bailey - “With the obstacles that this year has brought, we are focusing on improving everyday and we are grateful to have the opportunity to compete. We have a very young and inexperienced team following the graduation of a large senior class, and it has been fun finding this group's identity." |
| Players to Watch: |
|
| Erin Saemrow - Guard (Sr.) |
Did not play. |
| Jenna Uphoff - Guard (Jr.) |
55.0-fg% // 6.8-ppg // 14-stls |
| Grace Prokosch - Forward (So.) |
4.5-ppg // 9-asts |
| 7th |
|
University of Dubuque
Head Coach: Justin Smith (1st season)
2019-20 Record: 7-18, 3-13 A-R-C
2019-20 Conference Finish: 8th
Returning All-Conference: Mimi Smith (Honorable Mention)
Starters Returning: 5
Starters Lost: 0
Justin Smith - "The energy and focus from our team during these difficult and uncertain times has been extremely impressive. I am looking forward to watching them compete in one of the toughest DIII conference in the country." |
| Players to Watch: |
|
| Allison Bailey - Forward (Sr.) |
8.9-ppg // 21-stls // 10-blks |
| Vanessa Eniola - Guard (Jr.) |
3.0-mpg // 2-stls |
| Lauren Griffith - Forward (So.) |
7.4-ppg // 26-stls // 4.4-rpg |
| Kat Mathias - Guard (So.) |
4.7-ppg // 4.5-rpg // 47-stls |
| Mimi Smith - Forward (Jr.) |
7.1-ppg // 34-blks // 42-stls |
| 8th |
|
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Head Coach: Sam Dixon (4th season)
2019-20 Record: 7-17, 3-13 A-R-C
2019-20 Conference Finish: 7th
Returning All-Conference: None
Starters Returning: 2
Starters Lost: 3
Sam Dixon - “Excited to have an opportunity to play games. I think the conference will be very competitive." |
| Players to Watch: |
| Jazmine Glenn - Guard (Sr.) |
6.9-ppg // 31-asts // 24-stls |
| Sami Tucker - Forward (Jr.) |
5.9-ppg // 50.0-fg% // 13-blks |
| 9th |
|
Buena Vista University
Head Coach: David Wells (2nd season)
2019-20 Record: 1-24, 0-16 A-R-C
2019-20 Conference Finish: 9th
Returning All-Conference: None
Starters Returning: 2
Starters Lost: 3
David Wells - "Looking forward to the playoff one and done atmosphere." |
| Players to Watch: |
|
| Cassy Miller - Guard (Sr.) |
2.6-rpg // 51-ast // 27-stl |
