SIUC basketball coach Cindy Scott begins her 19th season at the helm of the Salukis with a compiled record of 346-173. Her success ranks her 34th among active coaches for number of wins.

Scott undoubtedly will improve upon that record as the Salukis race into this season with an abundance of athletic talent.

The Salukis are picked to finish third in the conference behind Southwest Missouri State University and Drake University, however neither coach Scott nor the team puts much stock in the preseason polls.

I think SMSU will be strong inside and I think that Drake will be a good opponent also, but I believe our team is good enough to contend (for the MVC title), Scott said.

SIUC will certainly have no depth problem this year, as the Salukis retain three top players in Nikki Gilmore, Kasia McClendon and Christel Jefferson. Seven juniors and seniors will lead the attack with five freshmen and sophomores right behind them.

Scott said she is happy to add another St. Louis native to her squad.

I think O’Desha (Proctor) is a really good player for us, she said. We’ve had a lot of good players come out of the St. Louis area.

Southwest Missouri State brings its Missouri Valley Conference winning ways into the1995-96 season with aspirations of a repeat performance.

Coach Cheryl Burnett and her 160-80 record and five consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament return to the scene.

Our coaching staff is very excited about this particular team, Burnett said. The reasons we’re excited about the team is they are so willing to learn and to work very hard.

With this particular group, we will be able to go back to our full court defense that we did not play last year at all, Burnett said.

The Lady Bears will add the double digit shooting efforts of Charitee Longstreth and LaTanya Davis to their defensive play of old. SMSU will add three freshmen to their squad in hopes of capturing the MVC title.

What we always try to do with our non-conference schedule is to prepare us for the conference, that’s our number one goal, Burnett said.

Picked to finish second behind Southwest Missouri State University, Drake University will have something to say about how the MVC shapes up.

Coach Lisa Bluder said her team is ready for the season. After losing only three players, the Bulldogs will have three seniors to take their place. Senior star Tricia Wakely, who averaged16.7points and 9.2 rebounds per game will lead the Drake squad into the season.

The conference, according to Bluder, will be a strong one this year and her team intends to fight for the MVC title again this season.

Every year the conference gets stronger, Bluder said. We (the conference) try to play some of the best teams in the country and we compete very well.

Southwest Missouri State University again will be a strong contender for the title, Bluder said. SIUC always has one of the most athletic teams in the conference and with the maturity, they will have a good team.

I think part of women’s basketball is to stay healthy, and if we stay healthy I think we can be very competitive, Creighton coach Connie Yori said.

The Lady Jays, under the direction of Yori, come into the 1995-96 season with an optimistic eye for the conference title race.

The Lady Jays are picked to finish fourth behind SIUC, but the polls are rarely 100% correct.

We as a conference lost a lot of good seniors last year, Yori said. I think that means that we’re going to have to have every player in our various programs step up and do the jobs for their individual teams.

I would expect us to be very competitive in the MVC and be one of the top ten leagues in the country, she said.

Cheryl Reeve will try to bring her Indiana State squad out of the sixth place finish of last year and into the race for the conference championship.

Reeve enters Indiana State seeing all but one of the starters from last season returning.

The Sycamores will bring the shooting and rebounding abilities of junior forward Georgia Bottoms together with junior Krissy Holden, who averaged 6.3 assists per game last season.

The Shockers of Wichita State said goodbye to five of their most talented players last year, but expect to find new life in their squad this year.

Coach Linda Hargrove, brought her 316-112 record from Cowley County Community College to Wichita State in 1989, and has shocked her teams from a 7-20 season in 1989-90 to a 16-12 last year, a task that is easier said than done.

Hargrove and the Shockers retain a two-time All-MVC selection player in senior guard Kim Evans and Tootie Shaw, a junior forward who averaged 6.6 rebounds a game last season.

We are very excited about this season. I think we had a strong pre-season, Hargrove said. We will take our lumps early in the year, but we are hoping that our new players will mature by MVC play.

Hargrove feels that the conference will be a tight race for the finish.

I would be surprised if any one team is way out in front near the end of the season, she said. I think it will be close at the end because I think there is a lot of parity in the league right now.

Illinois State, headed by coach Jill Hutchison, will enter the season with an identical team as last year.

Hutchison enters her 25th year at Illinois State and is looking for a better finish than the seventh place of last year. However, the Redbirds are picked to place seventh again this season.

The returning team is a more experienced group, hoping to turn a number of close losses from last year into victories this season.

Melanie Ward, a senior forward, will lead the Redbird attack this season bringing her15.6 points per game into play, Ward will be accompanied by center Kay Schroeder and forward Corinne Vossel to help in the rebounding and shooting efforts.

Bradley, Northern Iowa and Evansville hold the eight, nine and 10 spots in the MVC preseason poll.