IUPUI Voted #HLWBB Favorite, Williams Named Preseason Player of the Year
INDIANAPOLIS – Following its second-straight trip to the championship game, IUPUI has been tabbed the preseason favorite to capture the 2021-22 Horizon League women’s basketball championship and Macee Williams was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year in voting by the League’s head coaches.
Williams is the reigning three-time #HLWBB Player of the Year as she averaged 17.6 points and a League-leading 9.1 rebounds in League play in 2020-21. The Indiana native posted 11 total double-doubles last season with nine 20-point games while shooting over 50 percent from the floor. This marks the fourth-straight season Williams was tabbed Preseason Player of the Year and a member of the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team.
IUPUI captured 11 first-place votes to finish with 139 total points and claim first place in the poll. IUPUI ended last season 15-5 overall and 11-3 in League play. The Jags were tabbed No. 17 in the final CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll of 2020-21.
Joining Williams on the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team are teammate Rachel McLimore, Milwaukee’s Megan Walstad, Northern Kentucky’s Lindsey Duvall and Oakland’s Kahlaijah Dean.
McLimore earned All-League Second Team and All-Defensive Team honors in 2020-21 as she scored 15.1 points for the Jags in League play, shooting 49.7 percent from the field. Walstad led the League in field-goal percentage (53.9 percent) while ranking third in rebounding (8.6) and 11th in scoring (13.4) in League play, adding 2.0 blocks per game to earn All-League First Team and All-Defensive Team recognition last season. Duvall was a member of the All-League Second Team last season, pacing the Norse with 17.3 points and adding 7.3 rebounds in #HLWBB play. 2020-21 All-League First Team selection Dean averaged 17.9 points per League game, second in #HLWBB, while adding 5.0 assists and 6.2 rebounds.
The Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team is represented by five different institutions and includes 2020-21 Sixth Player of the Year Destiny Leo of Cleveland State, All-League Third Team members NKU’s Ivy Turner and Youngstown State’s Chelsea Olson, All-Freshman Team choice RMU’s Sol Castro and Meghan Pingel of Green Bay.
Leo averaged 10.6 points and 2.0 3-point field goals per game in #HLWBB games in her first season, earning All-Freshman Team honors as well. Turner posted 11.9 points and 2.9 assists for the Norse, while Olson totaled 9.9 points and 5.0 assists for the Penguins last season. Castro scored 9.9 points in her rookie campaign with the Colonials, while Pingel ranked second in the League with 5.1 assists in League play for the Phoenix.
Coming in second in the preseason poll with 125 total points is 2020-21 co-regular season champion Milwaukee, followed closely in third place by Green Bay with 120 total points and one first-place vote.
NKU is fourth in the preseason poll for the second consecutive season with 107 points, ahead of Oakland with 96 points.
In sixth place in the poll is Cleveland State, while 2020-21 co-regular season champions and tournament champion Wright State and Youngstown State tied for seventh. RMU came in ninth in the poll, followed by UIC. Rounding out the poll are Purdue Fort Wayne and Detroit Mercy.
The regular season will start on Tuesday, Nov. 9, and Horizon League play is scheduled to begin on Thursday, Nov. 18 with all 12 teams in action. The 2022 Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are scheduled to culminate at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis March 7-8. More information on the championships can be found at HorizonLeague.com/Indy.
2021-22 #HLWBB Preseason Poll
Pl. Team – Pts. (First-place votes)
1. IUPUI – 139 (11)
2. Milwaukee – 125
3. Green Bay – 120 (1)
4. Northern Kentucky – 107
5. Oakland – 96
6. Cleveland State – 78
T7. Wright State – 72
T7. Youngstown State – 72
9. RMU – 47
10. UIC – 38
11. Purdue Fort Wayne – 26
12. Detroit Mercy – 16
#HLWBB Preseason Player of the Year
Macee Williams, IUPUI
Preseason All-League First Team (alphabetical order by school)
Rachel McLimore, IUPUI
Macee Williams, IUPUI
Megan Walstad, Milwaukee
Lindsey Duvall, Northern Kentucky
Kahlaijah Dean, Oakland
Preseason All-League Second Team (alphabetical order by school)
Destiny Leo, Cleveland State
Meghan Pingel, Green Bay
Ivy Turner, Northern Kentucky
Sol Castro, RMU
Chelsea Olson, Youngstown State