Burnsville, Minn. – For the second straight season, the Northern State University women's basketball team was picked second overall in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Wolves garnered 209 points and four first place votes behind top picked MSU Moorhead with 213 points. Northern was also picked second in the North Division behind the Dragons with 45 points and three first place votes.
 
The Northern State University women's basketball team returns in 2017-18 after a 24-7 season and their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Wolves won their second NSIC Tournament Championship in three seasons, defeating Sioux Falls 55-52 from the Sanford Pentagon. Wolves head coach, Curt Fredrickson, tallied the 800th win of his career and finished the season with 820 through 38 seasons at the helm. Northern went 11-2 from Wachs Arena, as they led the nation for the tenth straight season in NCAA DII attendance, averaging 2,910 fans per game. As a team the Wolves finished the year third in scoring defense (57.5), third in scoring margin (+11.2), second in field goal percentage (44.9), first in field goal percentage defense (35.0), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.5), fifth in offensive rebounds (11.8), fifth in defensive rebounds (27.8), fifth in assists/turnover ratio (1.22), fourth in blocked shots (4.35), second in assists (16.06), and first in rebounding margin (+9.2) in the NSIC.
 
Northern returns starters Brianna Kusler, Jill Conrad, and Miranda Ristau from a season ago, as well as 2015-16 starter Alexis Tappe. NSU has a wealth of bench experience in upperclassmen Gabby Laimer and Brynn Flakus, as well as sophomores Jessi Marti and Sara Tvedt. Ristau was nabbed as the team's player to watch after a first team all-conference and NSIC All-Tournament team performance in 2016-17, where she led the team in scoring (515 pts) and rebounding (249 rebs). She was also top-5 in the NSIC in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots. Northern opens the season with three exhibition games against Creighton, South Dakota State, and Dakota Wesleyan, before heading to face Harding and Central Missouri in regional play.
 
NSIC coaches rank each team from 1 to 15 with a first place vote receiving 15 points, second place 14, third place 13, etc. Coaches do not rank their own team or vote for their own players. The regular season champion will be based on the 22-game NSIC schedule.  Each team will play teams in their division twice (14) and teams in the other division once (8).  An NSIC North and South Division Champion will also be awarded.  Divisional standings will also be based on all 22 NSIC contests played.  In the case of a tie, co-champions will be awarded. The 16-team NSIC / Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place Sat.-Tues., Feb. 24-27 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.  First round games will be played on the campus of the top eight seeds on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
 

Overall	Points		North Division	Points
1. MSU Moorhead (10)	213		1. MSUM Moorhead (5)	47
2. Northern State (4)	209		2. Northern State (3)	45
3. Augustana (2)	200		3. University of Mary	34
4. Wayne State	182		4. Minnesota Duluth	32
5. Winona State	152		5. St. Cloud State	26
6. Concordia-St. Paul	140		6. Bemidji State	15
7. Minnesota State	132		7. Minnesota Crookston	13
8. Minnesota Duluth	126		8. Minot State	12
9. University of Mary	125		South Division	Points
10. Sioux Falls	123		1. Augustana (5)	47
11. St. Cloud State	91		2. Wayne State (3)	44
12. Southwest Minnesota State	58		3. Winona State	33
13. Minnesota Crookston	51		4. Concordia-St. Paul	29
14. Bemidji State	43		Minnesota State	29
15. Upper Iowa	39		6. Sioux Falls	20
16. Minot State	36		7. Southwest Minnesota State	14
first place votes in ( )			8. Upper Iowa	8