(MSU Sports Information)
ST. LOUIS — The Missouri State Lady Bears are predicted to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference this season and senior guard Liza Fruendt is the Preseason Player of the Year according to a vote of the league’s head coaches, media representatives and sports information directors, it was announced Tuesday (Oct. 24) at MVC Media Day in St. Louis.
The Lady Bears collected seven first-place votes and 323 total points for the No. 2 spot, while Drake is the choice to repeat as champion with 356 points and 31 first-place votes. UNI picked up the remaining two No. 1 votes and 311 points for third, and Southern Illinois (256) came in fourth.
Indiana State finished fifth in the polling with 231 points, followed by Bradley (216), Illinois State (139), Evansville (132), Valparaiso (131) and Loyola (105).
Fruendt is the MVC’s top returning scorer, averaging 16.7 points and starting all 31 Missouri State games last season on the way to first-team all-MVC honors. She boosted her averages to 18.2 points, 6.0 boards and 2.7 assists on conference games as the only player to rank in the top 12 in each category.
The Batavia, Ill., native scored in double figures 27 times last season, including a 46-point outburst at 22nd-ranked Drake, the fifth-best total in school history behind only Jackie Stiles. She led MSU in scoring 21 times, and had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Evansville. Her 518 total points tied for 16th in MSU history, her 72 3-pointers ranked eighth, and she surpassed the 1,000-point barrier in February.
Fruendt is joined on the all-conference squad by Drake’s Sammie Bachrodt and Becca Hittner, Kylie Giebelhausen of Southern Illinois and UNI’s Ellie Howell.
The Lady Bears begin exhibition play Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. with Lindenwood, and tip off the regular season Nov. 13 with a 6 p.m. game at Ball State.
Missouri State has now been picked to finish either first or second in 17 of the 26 MVC preseason polls since joining the league for the 1992-93 season, and have accompanied those with a total 14 top-two conference finishes. MSU went 16-15 last season and advanced to the postseason for a third consecutive year. The Lady Bears return nine players from that squad, including 121 of the team’s 155 starts, for Kellie Harper’s fifth season in Springfield.
