INDIANAPOLIS – After securing its first regular season and tournament championships in program history last season, IUPUI has been tabbed the preseason favorite to capture the 2020-21 Horizon League women’s basketball championship and Macee Williams was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year in voting by the League’s coaches.
Williams is the reigning back-to-back #HLWBB Player of the Year after finishing the season leading the League in scoring at 17.5 points per game, while also finishing tied for first in rebounding with 9.0 per game. In addition, the junior posted 14 total double-doubles last season. Williams ranked ninth nationally with a field-goal percentage of 59.5 percent. Overall in 2019-20, she posted three 30-point scoring games and tallied 10 total 20-point scoring outings. Williams also earned All-Defensive Team honors last season. This also marks the third-straight season Williams was voted Preseason Player of the Year and a member of the Preseason All-Horizon League first team.
IUPUI captured all 12 first-place votes to finish with 144 total points to claim first place in the poll. IUPUI ended last season 23-8 overall and 15-3 during League play. The Jags were tabbed No. 10 in the final CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll of 2019-20.
Joining Williams on the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team are Cleveland State’s Mariah White, Northern Kentucky’s Ally Niece, Angel Baker of Wright State and Chelsea Olson of Youngstown State.
White earned #HLWBB Defensive Player of the Year honors in her junior season as she led the Horizon League with 3.0 steals per game and ranked 10th nationally with 96 total steals in 2019-20. Niece was named to the All-League Second Team last season after 13.1 points and 3.7 assists per game in her junior campaign for the Norse. Baker and Olson were both All-League First Team selections in 2019-20. Baker led the Horizon League with 3.8 assists per game last season and added 16.5 points per game, which ranked her third among #HLWBB players. Olson totaled 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists last season, ranking in the top 10 of the League in each category.
The Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team is represented by five different institutions and includes four third team selections and last season’s Freshman of the Year Shamarre Hale of Wright State. Joining Hale are Green Bay’s Caitlyn Hibner, IUPUI’s Rachel McLimore, Brandi Bisping of Milwaukee and Kahlaijah Dean of Oakland.
Hale ranked fifth in the League with 7.6 rebounds per game in her rookie season, adding 8.1 points per game. In 2019-20, Hibner posted 10.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for the Phoenix. McLimore scored 10.9 points per game last season for the Jags. Bisping led the Panthers with 9.3 points per game in her junior campaign and also ranked in the top-15 in the League with 5.9 rebounds per game. Dean ended last season with 12.0 points per game for the Golden Grizzlies and added 3.0 assists.
Coming in second in the preseason poll with 120 total points is Green Bay, followed closely in third place by Wright State with 118 total points.
NKU is fourth in the preseason poll with 105 points, ahead of League newcomer RMU with 88 total points after the Colonials earned a Northeast Conference regular season title last season, posting a 23-7 overall record in 2019-20.
In sixth place in the poll is Youngstown State, while Milwaukee is No. 7 in the preseason poll. Cleveland State came in eighth in the poll with 64 points, followed by Oakland with 54 points and Detroit Mercy with 38. HL newcomer Purdue Fort Wayne finished 11th in the poll coming off their final season in the Summit League. Rounding out the poll is UIC.
The regular season will start on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and Horizon League play is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Dec. 12, with all 12 teams in action. The 2021 Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship is scheduled to culminate at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. More information on the championships will be released at a later date.
2020-21 #HLWBB Preseason Poll Results
Pl. Team – Pts. (First-place votes)
1. IUPUI – 144 (12)
2. Green Bay – 120
3. Wright State – 118
4. Northern Kentucky – 105
5. Robert Morris – 88
6. Youngstown State – 84
7. Milwaukee – 76
8. Cleveland State – 64
9. Oakland – 54
10. Detroit Mercy – 38
11. Purdue Fort Wayne – 24
12. UIC – 21
Preseason Player of the Year
Macee Williams, IUPUI
Preseason First Team (alphabetical order by school)
Mariah White, Cleveland State
Macee Williams, IUPUI
Ally Niece, Northern Kentucky
Angel Baker, Wright State
Chelsea Olson, Youngstown State
Preseason Second Team (alphabetical order by school)
Caitlyn Hibner, Green Bay
Rachel McLimore, IUPUI
Brandi Bisping, Milwaukee
Kahlaijah Dean, Oakland
Shamarre Hale, Wright State
