St. Cloud State Women’s Basketball Projected Fifth in NSIC Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Burnsville, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Basketball was projected to finish fifth in the 2025-26 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches' Poll as announced by the league office Thursday morning. Senior guard Jada Eggebrecht was named the preseason player to watch for the Huskies.

Head Coach Lori Fish enters her 18th season with St. Cloud State ahead of the 2025-26 season. Fish and the Huskies are coming off a 2024-25 campaign that saw them finish eighth in the NSIC after tallying a 15-14 overall record with an 11-11 mark in NSIC play. Persevering through an injury plagued season, the Huskies still reached the NSIC Tournament and came away with a 64-53 win against Minot State in the first round to advance to the quarterfinals. Their season would come to an end after falling to the eventual NSIC Tournament Champions in Concordia-St. Paul.

"We have a highly motivated group that continues to challenge and push each other daily, consistently putting in the work," said Fish. "Our younger players gained valuable experience last season while navigating a year impacted by injuries. As we move forward, we are eager to get healthy and excited to see what this team can accomplish together."

Entering her senior season coming off her third All-Conference selection, Jada Eggebrecht is primed for another standout season. Last year in her junior year, Eggebrecht led the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game while shooting 41.6% from the field, 35.3% from three, and a single season program record of 94.7% from the free throw line. She also averaged 3.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 stocks per game. The Phillips, Wisconsin native crossed 1,000 career points last year and enters the season 31st with 1,111 points and an opportunity to crack the top 15 in program history. She also sits eighth all-time in career three-pointers made with 137.

"Jada continues to elevate her game and challenge herself each day to be the best she can be," said Fish. "We have asked a lot of her over the past three seasons, and this year will be no different. She is a tremendous leader both on and off the court—someone her teammates know they can always count on."

The Huskies will also be headlined by All-Conference honorees in junior Alana Zarneke and redshirt junior Ashley Sawicki. Zarneke had a breakout sophomore campaign where she averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.0 stocks per game. She also shot 39.9% from the field, 39.4% from three, and 84.3% from beyond the arc. She took on a prominent role on both ends for SCSU while starting in all 29 games to earn Second Team All-NSIC. Sawicki appeared in three games prior to injury and averaged 6.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 1.7 blocks. The year prior in 2023-24, Sawicki captured Second Team All-NSIC honors after averaging 10.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, with 1.2 steals and blocks. She also totaled six double-doubles throughout the year.

Other notable returners will be juniors Abigail O'Reilly and Paige Lambe and sophomores Rachel Kottke, Kristi Kottke, Reagan Briggs, and Halle Vande Hey. O'Reilly, Lambe, and Briggs started a majority of games with 11, 20, and 24 starts respectively. Both Kottke's and Vande Hey played key roles off the bench for the Huskies last season.

Rounding out the roster is senior transfer CJ Adamson, redshirt junior Brynn Olson, junior Grace Roesch, redshirt sophomore Kyla Hendricks, and freshmen Elise Groppoli, Annika Peper, and Laynie Meister. Adamson transferred from Augustana after spending three seasons with the Vikings. She started 42 games in her tenure and averaged 2.0 assists per game.

Preseason Coaches' Poll
Returning to the NSIC will be the North and South Division. With the insertion of Jamestown to the NSIC, divisions will be back in play for the first time since the 2022-23 season now that there is an even number of teams. The top 12 overall teams will make the NSIC Tournament.

Poll Results (Division Ranking)

Minnesota State (No. 1 South)
Concordia-St. Paul (No. 2 South)
Sioux Falls (No. 3 South)
Southwest Minnesota State (No. 5 South)
St. Cloud State (No. 4 South)
UMary (No. 2 North)
MSU Moorhead (No. 1 North)
Minnesota Duluth (No. 3 North)
Minot State (No. 4 North)
Northern State (No. 5 North)
Minnesota Crookston (No. 6 North)
Winona State (No. 6 South)
Wayne State (No. 7 South)
Bemidji State (No. 7 North)
Jamestown (No. 8 North)
Augustana (No. 8 South)

St. Cloud State will open their season on Friday, November 14 as they take on Washburn in the Central Region Crossover.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Basketball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.