The Valpo women’s basketball team has been picked to finish in sixth place in the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2021-22 season, according to preseason polling of the conference’s coaches, sports information directors and media members. Valpo was just one point shy of fifth place in the final results.

Valpo amassed 208 points in the polling to come in sixth position, just one point shy of Bradley in fifth place and 15 points clear of Loyola in seventh place. Missouri State topped the preseason poll and claimed 35 of the 40 first-place votes, while Drake and UNI were picked second and third, respectively, and combined for the other five first-place nods.

Valpo returns most of its squad from last year’s team which posted a 12-13 overall record, including two non-conference wins over Big Ten programs and a 7-9 mark in Valley play, and finished the year with a 122 NET — the program’s best final NET/RPI ranking since the 2003-04 campaign. The Beacons bring back 14 letterwinners who combined for 93% of the team’s scoring, 91.6% of the rebounding and 96.4% of the assists.

Four of the team’s five starters from last season return, highlighted by senior point guard Shay Frederick (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville). A First-Team All-MVC honoree last season, Frederick led The Valley in assists and finished the season sixth in scoring. She enters the season less than 100 points shy of becoming the 17th 1,000-point scorer in program history. Carie Weinman (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South [Denver]) returns as well after earning honorable mention All-MVC accolades last year. A two-time member of the MVC All-Defensive Team, Weinman paced the MVC in steals for a second straight season.

The Missouri Valley Conference projects to be as strong as ever across the board in women’s basketball this season. Last season, the Valley ranked seventh in the nation as a conference in the NET, the highest ranking in conference history, and boasted five teams in the top-100 of the NET. 10 of 11 First Team All-MVC selections from last season return for the 2021-22 campaign, nine of the conference’s top-10 leading scorers return and all 10 of the leading rebounders are back.