Rio Grande tops RSC preseason coaches' poll

RSC Sports Information
     MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande is an overwhelming pick as the favorite in the River States Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
     The poll, announced by the league office, saw each of the conference's 12 head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
     Rio Grande, which enters the 2024-25 season as the three-time defending conference champions, went 16-1 in the regular season last season before winning the RSC tournament title and advancing to the NAIA National Tournament.
     Head coach David Smalley's squad, which returns eight seniors and three All-RSC selections, including first teamer Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH), appeared in the top spot on 10 of a possible 11 ballots and garnered 119 points in the balloting.
     Oakland City, which also lost just one game in River States play last season, earned the other two first place votes. The Mighty Oaks, who also played in the NAIA Tournament last season, were picked to finish second with 109 points.
     Finishing out the top five on the ballot were St. Mary-of-the-Woods (99 pts.), Shawnee State (97 pts.) and Midway (73 pts.).
     The remainder of the poll saw Indiana University East (63 pts.) sixth to finish out the top half of the ranking, with Alice Lloyd (60 pts.), IU Southeast (57 pts.), IU Kokomo (40 pts.) and WVU Tech (33 pts.) rounding out the top 10.
     Brescia (29 pts.) was 11th and first-year program IU Columbus (13 pts.) placed 12th.
     The first RSC women's basketball conference game of the season is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 26, when St. Mary-of-the-Woods heads to Owensboro, Ky. for a meeting with Brescia.
     Every team in the conference will play one conference game before the close of the calendar year, with the first day of full conference play scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025.