Pride women's basketball voted third place in Heart Preseason Coaches' Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Following their Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and quarterfinal appearance at the NAIA Tournament, the Clarke University women's basketball team was picked to finish third with 135 voting points.

The Pride finished the 2020-21 season with a 23-3 overall record and a 14-2 record in Heart play to win the North Division and finish second overall in the conference. Despite the loss of leading scorer Makenna Haase, CU returns their next three leading scorers in Nicole McDermott (11.5 ppg), Tina Ubl (10.8 ppg), and Giana Michels (9.3 ppg) for their sophomore, senior, and junior seasons respectively.

The teams voted in first and second place both come from the South Division as MidAmerica Nazarene University and Central Methodist University nab the top two spots after earning 148 and 145 voting points respectively. The Pride and Pioneers matched up three times throughout last season with CU taking two of the three against MNU with both Clarke wins coming in the postseason in the Heart Tournament Championship and the NAIA Tournament round of 16 game.

A team from the South and North Divisions each in Benedictine College and Grand View University round out the top-five earning 123 and 118 voting points. Both of those teams joined CU, MNU, and CMU with double-digit Heart wins along with William Penn and Evangel who were voted No. 6 and No. 9 in the preseason poll.

The 2021-22 season for Clarke women's basketball will begin on Oct. 26 when they travel to Milwaukee, Wis. for a road matchup with Cardinal Stritch University.