BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's basketball team was voted to finish fifth in the Mountain East Conference's annual preseason poll. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a season in which they went 18-11 overall and 13-9 in league play.

Head Coach Charles Marshall returns for his seventh season at the helm of the women's basketball program. He led the Yellow Jackets on a run last year that placed them as high as second in the league standings and positioned them in the NCAA Atlantic Region rankings for multiple weeks.

Two-time Second Team All-MEC honoree Destiny Fields returns for her senior year after averaging 10.8 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game. Two other stellar seniors also return in Shelby Harmeyer and Hannah Shriver. Harmeyer averaged 11.1 points per game with a team-high 72 three-pointers made while Shriver averaged 9.0 points per game with a team-leading 69 assists. 

The team's leader in rebounds and blocks from a season ago will also be back in sophomore Emyah Fortenberry. She averaged 7.7 rebounds per game while swatting away 28 blocks. Fortenberry will have to compete with two other post players this season in senior Division I transfers Anysa Jordan and Imani Reid. Jordan joins State after spending three seasons at Eastern Kentucky while Reid comes to WVSU after a spell at Bethune-Cookman.

West Virginia State was picked fifth in the 2022-23 MEC Preseason Poll with 81 points received from votes submitted by the league's head coaches. The Yellow Jackets finished in a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings at the conclusion of the 2021-22 regular season. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the MEC Tournament before being knocked out by Charleston.

The reigning National Champions, Glenville State, were picked to win the conference with 118 points and eight first-place votes. Charleston, the reigning Conference Champions, was a close second with 111 points and three first-place votes. West Liberty received the one remaining first-place vote and was slotted third with 102 points in the poll.

Fairmont State barely edged WVSU in the poll with 84 points. Concord landed in sixth place with 71 points while Notre Dame (Ohio) was not far behind with 69 points for the seventh-place slot. Frostburg State (49 points), Wheeling (39 points), and Alderson Broaddus (30 points) made up the eighth through 10th place spots. West Virginia Wesleyan (20 points) and Davis & Elkins (18 points) rounded out the poll in 11th and 12th place, respectively.

The Yellow Jackets will begin their 2022-23 campaign with a non-conference game against Livingstone on Saturday, Nov. 12th. They will play two games that weekend as part of the Atlantic Region Tip-Off Challenge at the Walker Convocation Center. The full schedule can be viewed here.

2022-23 MEC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Glenville State (8) 118
2. Charleston (3) 111
3. West Liberty (1) 102
4. Fairmont State 84
5. West Virginia State 81
6. Concord 71
7. Notre Dame 69
8. Frostburg State 49
9. Wheeling 39
10. Alderson Broaddus 30
11. West Va. Wesleyan 20
12. Davis & Elkins 18
( ) – first-place votes