The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team was picked to finish 14th in the 2013-14 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll Wednesday. Senior guard Morgan Lee (Hayward, Wis.) was named BSU’s Player to Watch.

The Beavers earned 45 overall points for 14th, while they were pegged eighth in the NSIC North Division. BSU posted an 11-16 overall and 7-15 mark in league play a season ago to finish 13th in the NSIC and seventh in the North. Bemidji State returns 10 players from last season and will again be led by head coach Mike Curfman, who enters his ninth season at the helm.

Reigning regular season conference champion, Concordia University, St. Paul, was tabbed to finish first with 10 first place votes and 217 points. Minnesota State University, Mankato earned five first place votes and 214 overall points to pull down the second spot. Wayne State College was third with 176 points, while 2012-13 NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament champion and NCAA Final Four participant, Augustana College, picked up the final first place vote and 175 points. St. Cloud State University was chosen fifth with 162 points.

In the North, SCSU earned four first place votes and 46 points to earn the top spot. University of Minnesota Duluth picked up three first place nods and 41 points for second, while MSU Moorhead was awarded the final first place vote and 40 points for the third spot.

UMD’s Katrina Newman was named the NSIC North Division Preseason Player of the Year, while CU’s Anika Whiting was tabbed NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year.

NSIC coaches rank each team from one to 15 with a first place vote receiving 15 points, second place 14, third place 13, etc. Coaches do not rank their own team or vote for their own players.

The regular season champion will be based on the 22-game NSIC schedule. Each team will play teams in their division twice (14) and teams in the other division once (8). An NSIC North and South Division Champion will be awarded. Divisional standings will also be based on all 22 NSIC contests played. In the case of a tie, co-champions will be awarded. The 16-team NSIC / Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships are set to take place Sat.-Tues., March 1-4 at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. First round games will be played on the campus of the top eight seeds Wednesday, Feb. 26.

The 2013-14 women’s basketball season gets underway Friday, November 8 and NSIC action on the week of November 25.

BSU’s Player to Watch – #10 Morgan Lee (G, 5-7, Sr., Hayward, Wis. / Hayward HS)

Lee will serve as captain in 2013-14 for the second consecutive season. With 928 career points, Lee is 72 points shy of becoming the 16th player at Bemidji State to reach the 1,000 point plateau, while her 149 career 3-pointers rank sixth all-time at BSU. Lee started all 27 games in 2012-13. She led the team and finished 12th in the NSIC in scoring with 13.8 points per game. Lee knocked down 64 3-pointers on 190 attempts to post a 33.7 percentage from beyond the arc. Her 64 3-pointers made ranked fourth in the NSIC and 56th nationally. She shot 36.7 percent from the field, went 47-for-59 (79.7%) from the charity stripe and added 70 rebounds, 45 assists and 26 steals. She played 30.44 minutes per game to sit 20th in the league. Lee concluded the season with 20 games in double figures scoring, which included four games with 20-plus. She racked-up a career-high 32 points at Mount Mercy (Nov. 20) that sits tied for seventh all-time on Bemidji State’s single –game scoring list. She went 8-for-15 from 3-point range in the game to tie for the NSIC’s 3-pointers attempted lead in 2012-13. She shot 57.9 percent from the field in the contest and for her efforts was named NSIC Player of the Week.

BSU will use two exhibitions against NCAA Division I competition to get ready for the regular season. The Beavers travel to Brookings, S.D. Oct. 27 for a tilt against South Dakota State University. Bemidji State travels to Grand Forks, N.D. Nov. 5 to battle University of North Dakota before beginning the regular season Nov. 12 at home against Mayville State University.