WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State is picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll released on Monday.  Kerbie Cash, a sophomore forward, was named as a player to watch.

The preseason poll and preseason player of the year are voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.

Midwestern State finished last season with a 13-15 record overall, and the Mustangs were 11-11 in conference with five losses coming by a combined 10 points. MSU finished ninth in the conference and narrowly missed a berth in the LSC Postseason Tournament. 

The Mustangs were 10-5 last season with a 3-10 road record.

Head coach Brenita Jackson begins her third season at the helm, and she knows what it will take for Midwestern State to reach the next level… "lots of baskets."

"I want to see points on the scoreboard. It's not fun watching a whole 10 minutes go by and we score eight, nine, 10 points," Jackson said. "I want to see us having the fruit of our good solid defense convert into easy offense."

Jackson always has high expectations for her team, but she sees this team putting in the work needed to contend in the LSC.

"They have an incredible work ethic, and they come in with a mindset every single day to get better. I love being around people that work hard because I'm a work horse, so we're very aligned. "

Cash is back for her second season after earning LSC Freshman of the Year honors last season, when she scored 13.6 points and grabbed 7.4 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Lone Star Conference Team.

Cash is one of seven returning players for the Mustangs, including junior forward Aniaya Williams, who suffered a season-ending injury in her third game last season. Williams averaged 8.7 rebounds per game at the start of last season.

Junior guard Katy Piper, sophomore guard Carisa Cortez, junior forward Alyssa Hutterer, sophomore guard Calyssa Sevier and senior guard Catalina Cortez are all back from last year's squad.

Carisa Cortez started 26 of 28 games and led the team with 3.6 assists per game. She was the fourth leading scorer for the Mustangs last season with 6.1 points per game. 

Sevier appeared in all 28 games and also made 26 starts.  The native of Lytle, Texas, averaged 5.8 points and was second on the team with 46 steals.

Hutterer played in 28 games with two starts but played more than 20 minutes per game, averaging nearly four points and two rebounds per game.

Catalina Cortez appeared in all 28 games with six starts and dished out 35 assists while making 16 steals.

Piper appeared in 14 games before missing the second half of the season due to injury. 

Texas Woman's is picked to win its fourth consecutive Lone Star Conference women's basketball regular season title after finishing last season 33-2 with a 21-1 record in league play.  The Pioneers, who won 27 consecutive games during the season, hosted the NCAA Division II South Central Regional and advanced to the final. They finished ranked No. 6 in the nation.

Lubbock Christian, UT Tyler, West Texas A&M, Eastern New Mexico, Angelo State, Texas A&M-Kingsville and UT Permian Basin were all picked to finish ahead of the Mustangs.

St. Mary's was picked 10th and was followed by St. Edward's, Oklahoma Christian, Cameron, Texas A&M International, UT Dallas, Western New Mexico and Sul Ross State.

West Texas A&M senior guard Kyla Kane claimed the Preseason Player of the Year honors. She averaged 13.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game last season and made 56-of-149 3-point attempts.