Women's Basketball Tabbed #3 in GPAC Preseason Poll
(Sioux City, IA) – The results are in from the Great Plains Athletic Conference with their Women's Basketball preseason poll, where Hastings College was voted to finish third.
Dordt led the way with 120 points, including 10 first-place votes. Dakota Wesleyan was a close second with 111 points and one first-place vote. The Broncos, who had 99 points, received the other first place vote.
Coming off a year where they began the season picked to finish eighth, Hastings blew away those predictions by finishing last season in fourth place with a 17-5 conference record and 25-8 overall. The Broncos had a 5-4 GPAC record through the first nine games, then own 12 of their last 13 regular season games, including an 80-73 win over eventual national champion and then-unbeaten #1 Dordt. Head Coach Jina Douglas was named the GPAC Coach of the Year and freshman guard McKenna Yates was named All-GPAC First Team and GPAC Freshman of the Year.
Seeded fourth in the GPAC Tournament, Hastings lost in the GPAC semifinals to Dordt, but earned a #4 seed in the NAIA Tournament and was one of the 16 host sites for the first and second rounds. They held serve at home by blowing out #13-seed College of the Ozarks, 112-84, and #12-seed Huntington, 90-66. Their season ended in the round of 16 with a 78-70 loss to top-seeded Bethel (TN).
The Broncos ranked sixth in the nation in scoring last season, averaging 81.5 points per game, outscoring opponents by 15 points per game. Sophomore guard Ann Bose came off the bench last year and averaged a team-high 11.8 points per game. Yates averaged 11.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists, while senior guard Mariyah Avila, who was All-GPAC Second Team a year ago, scored 11.2 points per game to go along with 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and two steals. The guard trio also averaged 5.6 threes made per game.
In the post, senior forward Macy Bryant returns after averaging 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last year in her first season with the Broncos, shooting 47.4 percent from three. Hastings will look to Bryant, as well as sophomore forward Jentri Marx to fill the void inside following that Rachel Goodon anchored last year. Marx came off the bench last year, averaging 3.1 points and 3.4 rebounds.
Other returners for the Broncos include junior guard Tathis Arredondo, who started all but one game last year, averaging 5.1 points and shooting 40.6 percent from three and forcing 1.5 steals per game. Junior guard Bailey Kissinger returns after running point for the second unit last season, averaging eight points and four rebounds per game.
Sophomore Adyson Mlnarik looks to fill one of the other rotation spots off the bench after appearing in 24 games as a freshman, as does fellow sophomore Josilyn Miller, who was in the rotation prior to an injury three games into the season.
Hastings will begin their season at home on Friday, Oct. 24, against Mayville State at 6:30pm.
