ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon women’s basketball team garnered preseason accolades on Wednesday as the Lady Knights were tabbed 15th in the USA Today ESPN Division II Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll. Gannon was ranked second in the final poll last season.
Arkansas Tech is the preseason No. 1 receiving 15 first place votes. The Golden Suns were 31-3 last season, finishing sixth in the final poll. Delta State (Miss.) (621) is a top-five preseason favorite for the second straight year followed by Tusculum (Tenn.) (569), Lander University (S.C.) (516) and Holy Family (Pa.) (478) to complete the top five.
Emporia State University (Kan.) (464), the 2009-10 National Champion, is sixth, followed by West Texas A&M (460), Seattle Pacific (450), Washburn (Kan.) (414) and the University of Indianapolis (397) to round out the top ten.
Gannon was the top-ranked Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) team with California (Pa.) (197) sitting in the 19th spot, while Millersville and Indiana (Pa.) were listed among others receiving votes.
The Gannon women’s team returns six letterwinners, but will need to replace all five starters from last year’s 37-1 squad. The Lady Knights advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four for the first time in school history last season, before being eliminated with a 97-94 overtime loss to eventual champion Emporia State. The squad broke the NCAA Division II records for most victories (37) in a season and most consecutive wins (37) in a single season. Along the way, the program won its first-ever PSAC Championship and first-ever NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional.
The Lady Knights continue the 2010-11 preseason schedule with an exhibition game at Penn State at 12 noon on Sunday, November 7. The Lady Knights open the 2010-11 regular season at the Ferris State Tournament on Saturday, November 20 and Sunday November 21, taking on Northwood and Ferris State.
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