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LANCASTER, PA - Muhlenberg, ranked 20th in the D3Hoops.com preseason poll, is the top choice of the head coaches and sports information directors to win the Centennial Conference women's basketball crown. The Mules received 18 out of a possible 22 first-place votes (teams not permitted to vote for themselves) for 118 points in the East poll, while garnering 10 out of a possible 22 votes to earn the title of favorite for the CC Championship in the annual preseason poll of coaches. Muhlenberg won the regular season title in the East last season, but dropped a hard-fought 53-52 decision to eventual champion Western Maryland (now McDaniel College) in the semifinal round of the Conference tournament. Muhlenberg closed out the 2001-02 season at 21-4 overall and 13-2 in the Conference. In the East, Swarthmore is second with 104 points and four first place votes. The Garnet will work to return to the Conference final for the third straight year and add a second title to its credit with the help of junior guard Katie Robinson, the 2002 CC Player of the Year. Ursinus is third with 75 points, Washington follows in fourth with 74 points, while Haverford and Bryn Mawr round out the poll with 44 and 29 points, respectively. Johns Hopkins has been chosen as the top team in the West with 89 points and 12 first-place votes. The Blue Jays' streak of seven straight appearances in the Centennial Conference tournament came to a halt in 2002 when JHU was edged 70-68 by McDaniel (formerly Western Maryland) in a Western Division tie-breaker. Hopkins returns in 2003 hoping to start a new streak of appearances and put a fourth title in the record books. 2002 CC Champion McDaniel is the number two choice in the West with 84 points and eight first-place votes. Franklin & Marshall earned two first-place votes and 72 points for a predicted third-place finish. The 2002 Western Division Champion Diplomats were knocked out of the race for the CC title last season with a 61-56 loss to eventual runner-up Swarthmore. Gettysburg (47) and Dickinson (28) round out the poll in the West. This year the Diplomats will be led by 2002 All-Centennial Conference Second Team center Amy Abernathy (Jr., Far Hills, NJ/American School Paris). The 2002 Conference leader in blocked shots (2.52) and rebounding (12.7), she finished third in the CC in scoring (15.9) and field goal percentage (53.3) last season. Through 49 games, she is ranked fifth all-time at F&M in blocked shots with 99, including 60 swats in 2001-02, 13 short of moving past Jen Gibbon '99 (111) for fourth place. The 2003 season kicks off Friday, November 22, with Lancaster Bible at Bryn Mawr; Dickinson at York Tip-off Tournament; Gettysburg at Marymount Tournament; Chatham vs. Haverford (at Bryn Mawr); McDaniel at Vassar Tournament; Albright at Muhlenberg; Juniata at Swarthmore; Ursinus at Cabrini Tournament; and Washington at Wingate Inn Tip-off. Centennial Conference
Preseason Women's Basketball Poll
EAST
1. Muhlenberg (18) 118
2. Swarthmore (4) 104
3. Ursinus 75
4. Washington 74
5. Haverford 44
6. Bryn Mawr 29 WEST
1. Johns Hopkins (12) 89
2. McDaniel* (8) 84
3. Franklin & Marshall (2) 72
4. Gettysburg 47
5. Dickinson 28 Overall Champion: Muhlenberg (10), Johns Hopkins (7), Franklin & Marshall (2) McDaniel* (2), Swarthmore (1) *Formerly Western Maryland College
Head coaches and sports information directors polled
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