Huskies Women's Basketball Picked Sixth in Preseason Poll

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

10/17/2019 1:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

NSIC Release

BURNSVILLE, MINN. - The St. Cloud State University women's basketball team will look to continue building on what was a solid season last year. The Huskies finished with a 19-10 (14-8 NSIC) record and won two games in the conference tournament over Minnesota State and Bemidji State before falling to Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals. After a sixth-place finish overall and a fourth place finish in the NSIC North, the Huskies have been selected to finish sixth overall and third in the NSIC North this season.

The Huskies lost two seniors in Mackenzie Uter and Second Team All-NSIC honoree Mallie Doucette but return numerous play makers who saw major minutes on the court last year. Tori Wortz (Jr., G, Hutchinson, Minn.) returns for her junior season after earning Second Team All-NSIC honors as the team's three-point specialist last year, as is Katrina Theis (So., F, Maple Grove, Minn.) who was selected to the NSIC All-Freshman team after averaging 8.4 points per game and snagging 53 rebounds. Finally, Nikki Kilboten (Jr., F, Eau Claire, Wis.) is back after establishing herself as a lockdown defender and earned herself NSIC All-Defensive Team honors. Kilboten was the NSIC's leader in total blocks with (66) and also came away with (145) defensive rebounds for a top 10 finish in the NSIC.

Meet the 2019-20 women's basketball team (in 280 characters or less):

2- Tori Wortz (Jr., G, Hutchinson, Minn.)
Voted Preseason Player to Watch; Wortz is coming off Second Team All-NSIC honors; the three-point specialist scored 40 points against Bemidji last season for a career high; started all 28 games last season and averaged 12.2 points, dished out (61) assist and grabbed (119) total rebounds.

3- Elizabeth Wortz (Fr., G, Hutchinson, Minn.)
This will be the first season for Wortz as a Husky; Wortz is coming off a very successful high school career where she was All-Conference Honorable Mention as a junior and was a member of the team that made a state run in Minnesota.

4- Madelin Dammann (Sr., G, Waconia, Minn.)
Dammann started in all 28 games last season and was a top scorer for the Huskies as she averaged 11 points and collected (146) total rebounds on the year; Dammann's experience and play on the court will be a big key to the Huskies making another strong run in the conference.

5- Erin Navratil (Jr., G, Albany, Minn.)
Appeared in 14 games last year coming off the bench; Navaratil was a part of the deep bench the Huskies had last season that was among one of the most efficient in the conference.

10- Brehna Evans (So., G, De Pere, Wis.)
Evans appeared in all 28 games last season and started in three; Evans saw valuable minutes last season as she averaged 4.1 points per game and 2.1 assists per contest; Evans also shot a reliable 80 percent at the charity stripe and added 28 steals on defense.

15- Jill Kedrowski (R-Sr., G, St. Cloud, Minn.)
Earned NSIC All-Academic Honors last season and has been apart of a Huskies program that is constantly in the top half of the conference; Kedrowski will look to make a splash for the Huskies in her final season in red and black.

21- Jocelyn Johnson (Sr., G, Lakeville, Minn.)
Appeared in 16 games and started three times for the Huskies last season; Earned NSIC All-Academic Honors last year and will look to make a big impact in her final season for the Huskies.

23- Caitlyn Peterson (Jr., G, Lakeville, Minn.)
Appeared in 21 games for the Huskies last season and was a big part of SCSU's historic win over Augustana as she contributed a season high nine points; Peterson also earned NSIC All-Academic Honors last year.

25- Amanda Lindsay (Sr., G, Becker, Minn.)
Appeared in four games for the Huskies last year and tallied five points on the season; Earned NSIC All-Conference Honors last season; Lindsay will look to contribute in numerous ways for her final season in red and black.

32- Kelsey Peschel (So., G, Sauk Centre, Minn.)
As a freshman, Peschel appeared in 20 games for the Huskies and tallied 18 points on the year; Peschel also grabbed 25 rebounds on the year. Peschel will look to have a solid Sophomore season in red and black.

33- Cici Kieger (Jr., G, Woodbury, Minn.)
Kieger appeared in five games for the Huskies and collected five rebounds on the season; Kieger will look to contribute from beyond the arch more in 2019-20.

35- Courney Freeberg (Fr., C, Waconia, Minn.)
Freeberg was outstanding during her high school career with Waconia, graduating seventh all-time in career rebounding with 545 rebounds to her name; As a senior, she led Waconia to a 20+ win season and Conference Championship as well as the 6AAA Section Championship game.

40- Nikki Kilboten (Jr., F, Eau Claire, Wis.)
Kilboten was named to the NSIC All-Conference Defensive Team last season; Starting all 28 games last season, Kilboten averaged (9.9) points per game, a league leading (2.4) blocks per game, and (6.8) rebounds per contest; The Huskies will continue to lean on Kilboten as a strong two-way player.

42- Mariah Alipate (R-Fr., F, Prior Lake, Minn.)
Alipate redshirtred to preserve a season of eligibility.

43- Taylor Persche (Sr., F, Woodbury, Minn.)
Persche appeared in nine games with one start for the Huskies; She scored 14 points and on the season .625 shooting from the floor and a perfect 1.000 at the free throw line; Persche also tallied seven rebounds, one assists and two steals during the season and scored a career-high eight points in a win over Northland.

44- Abbey Macdonald (Fr., G, Hibbing, Minn.)
MacDonald joins the Huskiws as a Freshman after graduating as the all-time leader in multiple statistical categories; Became the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball for both the boys and girls teams with 1665 points as a junior; Graduated with well over 2000 points in her high school career and will look to have that transfer over to St. Cloud State.

45- Katrina Theis (So., F, Maple Grove, Minn.)
Theis was named to the NSIC All-Freshman team and averaged 8.6 points per game in 23 starts and 28 appearances; Theis was an all-around player for the Huskies as she averaged (5.5) rebounds per game, added (21) steals, (28) assists, and (15) blocks on the season.

52- Kassidy Steen (Sr., F, Cloquet, Minn.)
As a junior last season, Steen appeared in 21 games and (37) points on the season; grabbed (31) rebounds and (3) blocks last season; Steen is prepared to continue making an impact for the Huskies in her final season.