BAY CITY, Mich. – Ashland and Michigan Tech will enter the 2017-18 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Women's Basketball season as divisional favorites following the unveiling of the 2017-18 GLIAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.

Michigan Tech (58 points) leads the way in the North Division just one point ahead of Grand Valley State (57), while Northern Michigan (52) is positioned third after all three programs received four first-place divisional votes each.  The North Division was rounded out by No. 4 Ferris State (36), with Lake Superior State fifth (26) and GLIAC newcomer Purdue Northwest in sixth (17).

Lake Superior State women's basketball team is set to begin the 2017-18 season.  The Lakers, who finished 5-23 last season (3-18 in conference play), are being led by a new head coach, although one who is familiar with Laker basketball, in Brandon Lokken.

Lokken, who spent over ten years with the men's basketball program under head coach Steve Hettinga, is taking the reigns as a head coach for the first time.  Lokken started off as a student assistant while earning his Bachelor's degree, and gradually worked his way up to become Hettinga's top assistant in the 2015-16 season.

On being named interim head coach, Lokken sad "It's pretty awesome, especially here at Lake State, where I got to be a student and get my start.  To get the chance to bring the great things I've learned from coach Hettinga to the women's program."

By and far, the biggest goal for Lokken and his team is to establish a new culture within the women's program.

"This year is all about building our culture," said Lokken.  "We want to change the culture and get to build a real family environment that's competitive in everything we do, and it's a process.  Every day, we're just trying to get a little closer to that.  We don't want to do anything this year to try and give it a little band-aid fix to try and steal a game here and there.  We're in it for the big picture."

It will be a young squad for the Lakers this year, as 13 underclassmen (8 freshmen and 5 sophomores) will hit the floor, joining 2 juniors and 3 seniors.

Three starters return for Lokken, including sophomore forwards Lexie Khon and Claire Radtke, who are looking to build upon their freshmen campaigns.  Radtke started in all 28 games last season, averaging 8.1 points per game and shot 40.6 percent from behind the arch – the best among the returning Lakers.  Khon started in 15 games in 2016-17, averaging 28.1 minutes per game and a field goal percentage of 41.3.

"They've both looked good this preseason, working hard and running hard.  As we've gotten into practices, they've brought a lot of leadership, and they're more comfortable with experience than some of our younger girls."

Three seniors will suit up for Lake Superior, including center Tamara Novic, forward/guard Natalie Peterson and forward Lindsey Pajot.

"We have some seniors that have seen a lot of time throughout their career in Natalie Peterson and Tamara Novic that we'll count on for that senior leadership as well," said Lokken.

Last season, Novic played in 26 games and posted a team best 61.7 field goal percentage.  Peterson played in 19 games (starting 13 of them), putting up a 43.6 field goal percentage – second best among returning players. 

Joining Lokken on the bench are two new assistant coaches in Sara Holt and Dionne Parker.  After spending 13 seasons (2002-15) directing the West Michigan Lady Titans AAU program, Holt served as head national coach of the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Storm AAU Under 16 team from 2015-17.  Parker served as head coach of the South Carolina Storm girls' basketball AAU Team based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in the summer of 2017, and played at Coastal Carolina University.

Lake Superior starts its season with two exhibition games against DI opponents Western Michigan and Michigan State.  Both games will be on the road, with the Lakers tipping off their home schedule with a non-conference matchup against Malone on Friday, November 17th.  Tip-off is at 1 p.m. at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium.  Tickets may be puchased at the Norris Center Ticket Office or online at lssulakers.com/tickets.