ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Morris was selected as the UMAC Preseason favorites by the coaches receiving 47 votes including five first place votes on Wednesday. The Cougars edged out St. Scholastic in preseason voting by three votes. UMM has won at least a share of the UMAC title the last three years.
 
Martin Luther, who also finished 12-2 in the UMAC last season like the Cougars, was selected third as was Northwestern College, both with 32 points. Bethany Lutheran was close behind them with 30 points. Northland was projected to finish sixth with 19 votes. Rounding out the poll was North Central University with 11 votes and Crown College with nine.
 
Concordia returns Emily Mehr, a 1,000 point scorer and First Team All-UMAC performer who finished 2011-12 with 18.3 points, 34^th in Division III. The Cougars also return UMAC Co-Freshman of the Year Kendra Wycoff, who will look to emerge in her sophomore campaign. WyCoff was a threat from behind the arc hitting 63 three pointers in 2011-12.
 
Also back in the fold will be Abby Fragodt and Kelsey Erickson who were both starters last season and add some experience to a fairly young but talented roster.
 
The Cougars kick off their season Thursday taking on the Concordia Moorhead Cobbers at 5:30 in the P.E. Center. The next they travel to take on another NSIC school, after playing Augustana in an exhibition traveling to the Minnesota State Moorhead on Friday at 6:00 p.m. They will have one more game prior to Thanksgiving taking on Jamestown College on Tuesday night in Jamestown, N. D. at 5:30 p.m.
 
Hear Head Coach Tim Grove talk about the upcoming season by clicking on the play button above.