SE Faces FHSU, MWSU to Open Season

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern women's basketball wastes no time in testing itself as it opens the 2021-22 season with a trip to St. Joseph, Mo., for the Hillyard Women's Basketball Tip-Off Classic where it will face No. 4 Fort Hays State in the opener at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 12 before coming back on Nov. 13 for a 3:30 p.m. matchup with host Missouri Western State.
 
The Savage Storm are picked fourth in the Great American Conference preseason poll and coming off a 13-8 abbreviated season in the spring of 2021 in which they finished second in the Western Division of the conference before making run to the conference championship game.
 
Southeastern returns a pair of first team All-GAC selections from last season's team in Kamryn Cantwell and Briley Moon.
 
Cantwell averaged 16.7 ppg while pulling down 7.3 rebounds per contest, while Moon posted 15.8 ppg alongside 6.2 rebounds per outing.
 
In all, the Storm return six of its top seven scorers, as well as its top three rebounders.
 
FHSU comes into the weekend ranked No. 4 in the WBCA preseason Poll and returns nine players from last year's conference championship squad, including the top six scorers and seven of the top eight.
 
The Tigers brings back 88.6 percent of its offensive production, including four All-Conference performers in Jaden Hobbs (first team in 2021, third team in 2020), Whitney Randall (first team in 2021), Olivia Hollenbeck (HM in 2021) and Cydney Bergmann (HM and All-Defensive Team in 2021).
 
MWSU enters the season picked eighth in the MIAA preseason poll and are coming off a 6-16 finish a season ago.
 
The Griffons return their top scorer from a season ago in Brionna Budgett who posted 8.4 ppg, and overall bring back three of its top five scorers.