Virginia Wesleyan, Eastern Mennonite Round Out Top Three

SALEM, Va. --- Three-time defending ODAC champion Randolph-Macon College earned 112 total votes including seven first place tallies in being slated for the top spot in the annual ODAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.  Virginia Wesleyan College grabbed three first place nods and 103 total votes while Eastern Mennonite University rounds out the top three with 101 total votes and one first place prediction.

Roanoke College sits in the fourth position (91 votes) while Washington & Lee University (74) and Bridgewater College (69) hold the fifth and sixth places.  Guilford College (59) and Lynchburg College (46) are seventh and eighth while Emory & Henry College (37), Randolph College (19) and Hollins University (14) complete the survey in the ninth, tenth and eleventh slots, respectively.

Randolph-Macon (26-5, 18-2 in 2006-07) has won the past three and four of the last five ODAC tournament titles.  Head coach Carroll LaHaye's Yellow Jackets played host to their NCAA first and second round opponents, defeating Piedmont (83-68) and William Paterson (74-59) before falling to Kean (68-60) at the NYU regional.  R-MC welcomes back several stalwarts from last season's squad include All-ODAC first team selection, Lindsay Riesbeck, and 2007 Rookie of the Year, Molly Ariail.  Riesbeck and Ariail tied for the team lead and fourth in the conference at 14.4 points per game.  Ariail was fourth in the conference in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and second in blocked shots (1.96 bpg).  Leading the backcourt is Amanda Hiltunen (10.9 ppg) who finished second in the conference in field goal percentage at 51.6-percent (130-of-252).

Virginia Wesleyan (21-7, 16-4) returns two starters from last season's squad that lost to Randolph-Macon in the ODAC Championship game (76-65).  Head coach Stephany Dunmyer's up-tempo style of play spread the offensive wealth amongst several players last year.  Eight Marlins averaged at least 5.0 points per game.   Chelsey Barrett (7.1 ppg, 44 steals) and Andrea Ushinski (6.6 ppg and 4.8 rpg) are ready to lead the way with Tonia Jones (7.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 47 steals) and Heather Phillips (9.1 ppg) ready to take the Marlins back to the ODAC title game.

Eastern Mennonite (17-8, 15-5) and reigning ODAC Coach of the Year, Kevin Griffin, welcome back all five starters from last season's squad.  The Royals, who were picked seventh in the 2006-07 preseason poll, entered the ODAC tournament as the #3 seed before bowing out having won five more conference games than the year before.  EMU is led by All-ODAC first team forward, Carolyn Riley.  Riley finished second in the conference in scoring at 15.7 points per game while pulling down 6.1 boards per outing.  Look for Jolene Kratz (10.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Tara Jones (9.3 ppg, 45 steals) and Ebony Dennis (8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 72 steals) to provide plenty of support.

Posted below is the entire women's basketball preseason poll.  For more information on ODAC women's basketball, please visit any of the participating schools' websites or the ODAC on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. 

To watch and listen to the coaches interviews, click HERE

2007-08 ODAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
(#) Denotes first place votes