Preseason D3hoops.com women's Top 25
| Carissa Verkaik averaged 19.2
points, 4.3 blocked shots and 8.8 rebounds per game last
season. Calvin athletics photo |
Calvin, which returns three starters from last year's 28-2 team, is one of six teams to receive No. 1 votes in the preseason D3hoops.com women's basketball Top 25.
MIT was voted the preseason No. 1 in men's basketball last week.
Calvin received nine of the 25 first-place votes, followed by No. 2 George Fox, which received six. Third-ranked St. Thomas and fourth-ranked DePauw picked up two No. 1 votes apiece, while defending national champion Illinois Wesleyan received five and finished No. 5 overall. The 25th vote went to UW-Stevens Point, which is the preseason No. 7 team.
Illinois Wesleyan, which finished 28-5 last year and defeated George Fox in the national title game, graduated three of its five starters and lost five players from that team, including D3hoops.com Player of the Year Olivia Lett. The Titans will look to Michelle Bilek and Shelby Jackson, who each started four games last year because of injuries to the regular rotation.
Voting is conducted on a 25-24-23-etc. basis. The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and has been published weekly since November 1999.
