Lakers are picked to finish fourth in GLIAC North Division

BAY CITY -- Selected members of the media and the sports information directors were asked to choose the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Women's Basketball Preseason Polls. The 24-member group tabbed Michigan Tech and Northwood University to win the league's North and South Division titles, respectively. LSSU was picked to finish fourth in the North Division.

Michigan Tech , which returns all five starters and all but one player from an NCAA Elite Eight team a year ago, enters the season as the nation's top-ranked team. The Huskies were GLIAC North Division Champions and Midwest Region Champions in 2008-09. The Tech lineup features two 1,000-point scorers (Katie Wysocky and Sarah Stream) and two more (Danae Danen and Katie Zimmerman) are well within range of eclipsing the milestone. All five starters earned some sort of All-GLIAC honors a year ago.

Northwood women's basketball team returns 10 of its top 12 players from last year's 21-8 team that set a school record for wins in a season and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Timberwolves will be led by a pair of seniors - Jodi Ostergren and Karlie LeRoy. Ostergren is the second-leading scorer in the GLIAC returning this season and has earned All-GLIAC honors in each of the last two seasons. LeRoy became the second Northwood player to be named to the All-GLIAC Defensive following the 2008-09 season. Joining Wysocky on the preseason All-GLIAC North Division Team are: sophomore guard Jasmine Padin and sophomore guard Emma Veach of Grand Valley State University; junior guard Emily Joseph of Lake Superior State University; and senior guard Sarah Stream of Michigan Tech.

Joseph (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford II) is Lake Superior State's top-returning scorer after averaging 9.9 points) per game last season. She was ranked fourth in the GLIAC in average assists per game (4.5), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.2) and 15th in free-throw percentage (.793). In 2008-09, she totaled eight or more assists in six games, collecting a career-high nine assists against St. Joseph's and Grand Valley State. Joseph turned in 16 double-figure scoring performances, including a career-high 25 against Northwood.

Joseph, and junior guards Ronlea Peterson and Nicole Marshall are returning starters from last year's 16-15 Laker team, which finished fourth in the GLIAC North Division with a 9-13 record.

The head women's basketball coaches chose Wysocky as the league's preseason "Player of the Year."