MADISON, S.D. -- The Bellevue University women's basketball team claimed the top spot in the 2020-21 North Star Athletic Association women's basketball coaches' preseason poll, the conference office announced Thursday.  The Bruins collected five first-place votes and 60 points in the poll.

The Bruins return all five starters and eight letterwinners from last season's squad that finished with a 21-11 overall record and an 11-3 mark in the NSAA, claiming a share of the NSAA regular-season title.

Leading the list of returnees is 5-11 forward Elexis Martinez, who is a two-time first-team all-NSAA selection. She earned honorable mention All-American honors last season while leading the team with 13.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Junior Faith Ross earned second-team all-NSAA honors a year ago, averaging 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest. 

Dakota State picked up two first-place votes and collected 58 points to finish second in the coaches' poll.  Viterbo earned the final first-place vote and recorded 46 points to finish third.  Valley City State finished fourth in the preseason poll with 40 points.

Mayville State, who shared the NSAA regular-season title for the second-straight year with Bellevue last season with an 11-3 conference record, placed fifth in the preseason poll.  The Comets collected 27 points in the poll.

MSU qualified for the 2020 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Tournament and finished with an overall record of 25-6.  The Comets won the NSAA Postseason Conference Tournament last year, defeating the V-Hawks 74-70 in the championship game.

Dickinson State was sixth with 21 points.  Presentation (S.D.) and Waldorf (Iowa) were both tied for seventh after finishing with 14 points each.

Points are awarded on an 8-1 basis and coaches could vote for their own team.

Each NSAA members will be playing a total of 14 conference games this season, with each team playing home and away games during the conference season.

The NSAA conference season gets underway on Dec. 5 with four games on the schedule, with traveling partners playing each other.  Valley City State travels to Dickinson State; Dakota State hosts Bellevue; Presentation welcomes Mayville State and Viterbo visits Waldorf.

The NSAA Postseason Tournament opening round is scheduled for Feb. 23.  The four opening-round winners will advance to the 'Final Four' tournament to be held at Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D. on Feb. 27-28.

There will be a new format for this year's national postseason. With all schools in one division, the North Star Women's Basketball Postseason Tournament's champion will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament's Opening Round scheduled for March 12-13.  The winner of the national tournament's opening round will advance to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa from March 18-23, 2021.

Here is the complete 2020-21 NSAA Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll: