FOREST, Va. --- It has been a long time coming, but the ODAC women's basketball season is set to get underway this week. The sprint to the ODAC Tournament begins on Thursday, and the league's head coaches conducted their annual ODAC Women's Basketball Coaches Poll to give us some insight into who might be vying for the conference hardware.

As is true most ODAC seasons, parity rings true throughout the survey, albeit with a top-heavy group separating from the pack. Roanoke College leads the charge after collecting 112 points and six first place votes, but only 10 points separate the first three positions. Washington and Lee University and Bridgewater College split the remaining six top nods with three apiece. The Generals sit second with 106 markers, while the Eagles slot third with 102 tallies.

The University of Lynchburg separates one group from another as the Hornets rank fifth with 86 points. The difference between Shenandoah University, Emory & Henry College, and Guilford College for the next three spots, respective, is the slimmest of margins. The SU Hornets registered 71 points with the Wasps garning 70 tallies and the Quakers picking up 69 markers.

LAST TIME OUT

• Nearly a year has passed since Randolph-Macon carried the ODAC's banner into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Yellow Jackets did not disappoint in picking up a first round win via a 78-68 result over host Transylvania University. R-MC's season came to a close with a 71-63 loss to Oglethorpe University the next day.
• The remainder of the NCAA Tournament following the second round was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 ODAC TOURNAMENT | BRACKET

• When you consider the saying "it's anyone's game," you need look no further than ODAC women's basketball. For the second straight season, neither of the top-two seeds reached the ODAC title game as #4 Randolph-Macon and #7 Guilford squared off for the league crown.
• R-MC opened its tourney with a 75-48 triumph over defending champion and fifth-seeded Shenandoah. The final score was closer in the Yellow Jackets semfinal tilt against #1 Emory & Henry. R-MC led 58-42 after three periods, but a 26-14 Wasps' charge in the fourth quarter made Macon fans uneasy before the final horn sounded to clinch a 72-68 R-MC victory.
• Guilford took a longer road to the final game, beginning with a 62-37 first round win over #10 Virginia Wesleyan. The Quakers then built a strong lead and held on despite a late rally by #2 Washington and Lee for an 84-77 victory in the quarterfinals. Guilford again was tested by #6 Roanoke in the semifinals. GC owned a four-point halftime edge, but RC erased that in the third frame to setup up a winner-take-all fourth period. Guilford jumped out early only to see the Maroons tie the score with under a minute to play. A three-point play by Miracle Walters and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch sent the Quakers to the ODAC final via a 66-61 scoreline.
• The championship featured a fairly close first half with Randolph-Macon heading to the locker room up 37-30. But the Jackets held Guilford to just four points in the third frame for a 53-34 advantage heading to the final chapter. They played even ball in the fourth period with Randolph-Macon securing its 10th ODAC crown with a 68-50 triumph.
• The Yellow Jackets have won two out of the past three ODAC Tournaments. Only Roanoke has won more overall titles (16).

AN ODAC LEGEND RETIRES

• Following the NCAA Tournament, long-time Randolph-Macon mentor Carroll LaHaye called it a career after 38 seasons in Ashland.
• Since taking over R-MC's coaching reins in 1982, LaHaye racked up a 647-376 (.632) overall record that included a 418-161 (.721) mark in ODAC regular season games. She is the all-time winningest coach in ODAC history spanning both the women's and men's coaching ranks. LaHaye was at the helm for all 10 of R-MC's conference championships.
• LaHaye won ODAC Coach of the Year laurels four times and VaSID State Coach of the Year honors five times. Her teams posted 14 20-win seasons and registered 30 wins during the 2004-05 campaign when the Yellow Jackets finished as the national runner-up to Millikin.
• Prior to the start of the 2020-21 season, LaHaye ranked 15th on the Division III Women's Basketball all-time coaching victories chart.

RETURNING ALL-ODAC TALENT | 2020 ALL-ODAC AWARDS

• While 12 All-ODAC honorees returned to league floors last season, less than half of the 2020 award winners dot conference rosters this year.
• Three squads featured two all-conference returners led by Bridgewater with All-ODAC First Team guard Ahlia Moone and All-ODAC Third Team guard Madison Baum. Baum doubled as the ODAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year (w/ former E&H guard Peyton Williams).
• Lynchburg welcomes back a pair of third teamers in forwards Erin Green and Abby Oguich. Oguich took home last year's ODAC Rookie of the Year plaque.
• Washington and Lee's roster includes first team guard Erin Hughes and third team guard Megan Horn.
• The remaining All-ODAC returner dons Roanoke colors. Third team guard Kristina Harrel returns to a deep squad that features all five returning starters

NEW TO THE COACHING RANKS

• A pair of new mentors sit in the lead chair for the first time this season. Katie Crump, a 2012 graduate at Lynchburg, takes over the reins at her alma mater on an interim basis after former head coach and fellow alum Abby Pyzik Smith stepped down earlier this year following a decade in charge. Crump spent the previous three seasons as an assistant at Lynchburg and was also an assistant at Berry College and Salisbury University, the latter while earning her Master's Degree.
• Randolph-Macon welcomed Lindsey Burke to campus last spring following Carroll LaHaye's retirement after 38 years roaming the sidelines in Crenshaw Gymnasium. During her seven-year coaching career, Burke has helped three teams reach a NCAA tournament. She got her start as an assistant at the University of Mary Washington for three seasons before moving to Bucknell University as the Director of Basketball Operations for the 2016-17 campaign. She has spent the past three years as an assistant at the University of Rochester. Burke is a graduate of Mercyhurst University (2013) and Mary Washington (2016).

THE SCHEDULE AND TOURNAMENT

• ODAC women's basketball is set to play as many as 11 conference games for each team for a full round-robin slate (Hollins University will not be competing this season). Each team retains the autonomy to schedule non-conference games as opportunities allow. The majority of ODAC teams kick of their seasons on Saturday, January 23, 2021. Following a scheduling change, the first game on the calendar tips off on Thursday, January 21.
• The ODAC Women's Basketball Tournament will feature four teams in 2021. The semifinals of the tournament will be played on the campuses of the #1 and #2 seeds on Thursday, March 4. The championship is slated for Saturday, March 6 at the highest remaining seed. Tip times will be communicated once they are determined. All games and times should be considered subject to change.

Listed below is the 2021 ODAC Women's Basketball Coaches Poll. Be sure to check out the preseason capsules for more details on each team.

For more information on ODAC women's basketball, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

2021 ODAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL