OXFORD, Ohio- The Shawnee State Bears are the preseason favorite in women's basketball in the River States Conference, earning 75 percent of the first place votes in the 2025 RSC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The poll, announced Wednesday by the River States Conference office, saw each of the conference's 12 head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
Shawnee State ran the table during the 2024-25 season, going 16-0 in conference play and earning an automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament. The Bears earned the last of their 28 wins in the NAIA Tournament, defeating Loyola New Orleans by a 70-62 in a first round contest. Three All-Conference players from last season return in Miyoshi Ellis, Jariah Steele, and Emily Maynard.
The University of Rio Grande earned two of the other three first place votes. The RedStorm won the RSC Tournament title last season for the fourth year in a row, earning the RSC's other automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament. Brescia University got the other first place vote and finished third. The top five was rounded out by fourth place Midway University and fifth place Indiana University Southeast.
The remainder of the poll saw St. Mary-of-the-Woods sixth to finish out the top half of the ranking, followed by Indiana University Kokomo seventh, Indiana University East eighth, Oakland City University ninth, WVU Tech tenth, Kentucky Christian University eleventh, and Indiana University Columbus 12th.
The River States Conference basketball season will begin on Friday, October 24, when Kentucky Christian travels to the University of the Cumberlands. Two other schools - IU Columbus and St. Mary-of-the-Woods, will also play during the opening weekend. The first scheduled conference game is on December 2, when Rio Grande hosts Midway. The RSC Tournament is scheduled for February 25, 28 and March 3, with the higher seed hosting each game of the tournament.
2025-26 RSC PRESEASON WOMEN's BASKETBALL COACHES' POLL
1. Shawnee State (119 points, 9 first place votes)
2. Rio Grande (111 points, 2 first place votes)
3. Brescia (100 points, 1 first place vote)
4. Midway (87 points)
5. IU Southeast (74 points)
6. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (64 points)
7. IU Kokomo (60 points)
8. IU East (59 points)
9. Oakland City (50 points)
10. WVU Tech (31 points)
11. Kentucky Christian (23 points)
12. IU Columbus (14 points)