GREENWOOD, Ind. - The 2014-15 Great Midwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball season will tip off on November 14 with six of the nine teams in action, and after the league’s first season as an active Division II conference, year two is setting up to be even more challenging for the eventual champion to navigate.
 
Last week the coaches preseason poll identified Trevecca as the early favorite, coming off its second straight regular-season title. However, the last two seasons ended on Trevecca’s court with the Trojans finishing as the championship tournament runners-up. TU will look to get over that hump and claim its first women’s basketball championship in 2014-15.
 
While the coaches have slated Trevecca as the favorite, they also identified a group of teams that will challenge them for the title as four teams collected first place votes and the top five ranked teams were extremely tight in the rankings.
 
TU earned four first place votes, while Cedarville had three, Kentucky Wesleyan and Ursuline each received one, and then Davis & Elkins rounded out the top five coming off an impressive 12-4 season in conference.
 
Alderson Broaddus - The Alderson Broaddus women’s basketball team is coming off a season in which it managed four wins, all of which came against conference opponents -- two wins against Salem International and two against Central State.
 
Last season the team was led by a pair of sophomores in Sydney Shaffer and Rachel Ashley. Shaffer scored a team-high 10.1 points per game, while making only 15 starts in 26 contests. She led the team with 56 made three-pointers and 90 total made shots. Ashley was second in scoring with 7.9 points per game and led the team with 5.3 rebounds per game, 142 total. She made 25 starts in 27 games played, averaging a team-high 25 minutes a game.
 
The Battlers were selected seventh in the preseason poll after finishing seventh last season, but with
13 freshmen and sophomores on the roaster last season, they will look for that youth to take the next step in growing the program to at least a .500 team if not better.
 
Cedarville - The Cedarville Lady Jackets are looking to take the next step in 2014-15, after finishing 13-3 in conference and 18-10 overall. CU earned three first-place votes in the coaches preseason poll, despite graduating its fifth all-time scoring leader, Kayla Jenerette. Cedarville will test itself early playing six of its first nine games against Midwest region opponents from the GLIAC (4) and the GLVC (2).
 
Despite the loss of Jenerette, the Lady Jackets return a pair of seniors in Raegan Ryan and Deborah Gordon, alongside junior Kayla Linkous. Ryan, an all-conference first-team selection, is the team’s leading returning scorer with 12.0 points per game. Linkous joined her in double-figures with 11.9 points per game, and Gordon was as close as you can be to double-figures with 9.9 points per game.  Gordon and Linkous crashed the boards with 6.1 and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Ryan dished out a team-high 151 assists.

The Jackets, who finished second in the standings last season and in the last two seasons fell in the semifinals to the eventual tournament champions, will look to capture a the title behind a roster of veterans, including eight juniors and seniors.
 
Central State - The Central State women’s basketball team was picked to finish sixth by the coaches after going 4-12 last season and 8-17 overall. However, the team will look to improve behind a group of five seniors, including last year’s top scorer Iniquia Snell, who averaged 15.7 points per game, and Demetria Nunley-Lash, who was second in scoring with 12.5 points per game and led the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.   
 
To improve, the Marauders will need to improve upon their defense, as they allowed a conference-high 77.8 points per game. They did defend the perimeter well, leading the conference in three-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 27.5 percent from long range.
 
If CSU can take a step forward with the play of five seniors and four juniors, they will look to climb into the top half of the standings and potentially make a run at the title as the last two #3 seeds have finished the tournament as champion.
 
Davis & Elkins - The Davis & Elkins women’s basketball team is coming off an impressive performance in conference play last season, going 12-4, but overall finished just 15-14 (3-10 non-conference). The team will look to a duo of seniors and a talented sophomore to continue its success in conference, but dramatically improve out of conference.
 
The Senators lost their leading scorer and rebounder in Jorden Lykes, but return sophomore Stephanie Wooten’s 12.9 points per game and team-high 111 assists. Seniors Sharmaine Baker and Ashley Bowles return to provide depth after each scoring in double-figures with 10.0 and 10.5 points per game respectively.
 
After starting the season 2-9, the Senators improved in the second half to finish the season 11-2 before falling in the conference tournament against Ursuline. D&E will look to get out to a quick start to the season and continue the momentum built following its impressive second half.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan - The reigning women’s basketball champs won the conference crown after finishing with the third overall seed in the tournament; the Panthers are hoping that trend continues as the coaches preseason poll has them listed third, though they did earn a first-place vote.

After winning 20 games in 2012-13, the Panthers won 21 games last season, though they were third in the standings at 12-4. Entering the 2014-15 season, the team is actually riding an impressive six-game winning streak, which could be as high as eight games if they hadn’t dropped a double-overtime loss to D&E in conference play on the road. 

The team lost four seniors to graduation this past year, including its All-American Honorable Mention pick and G-MAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, Karly Rhoads. The team will be young, as they feature only five upperclassmen led by senior Jordanne Gambill, who scored 12.0 points per game last season. Erin Dorn should take on a larger role in the offense after leading all bench scoring last year with 6.9 points per game. With the increased playing time, her offensive production should increase as well.
 
Ohio Valley - The Ohio Valley University women’s basketball program was slated eighth in the G-MAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll after going 5-11 last season. The Fighting Scots’ roster will be made up of 50 percent seniors, though they will have to replace five of their top six scorers.

Leading the team will be Amy Brooks, who made just four starts last season and averaged 18 minutes, scoring 6.1 points a game. Ndeye Meissa Diop scored 6.0 points per game and grabbed 5.9 rebounds a game. She also led the team with 31 blocked shots.

In order to climb the conference standings, OVU must improve its shooting, as it was outshot last season 43.5% to 35.3% and only converted on 20.9% of its shots from beyond the arc.

Salem International - The Salem International University women’s basketball program struggled last season, winning just four games overall and going winless in conference play (0-16). The team was picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll, but with a new head coach and a group of newcomers, the Lady Tigers will look for dramatic improvement in 2014-15.

The Tigers returns senior Inkera Patterson, who was the team’s second leading scorer with 12.5 points per game and is the returning leader with 100 assists and 57 steals. She was also third in rebounding. She will be joined by Shakinah Haggins and Jessica Lagard, both who return to the lineup after not playing in 2013-14.  

Lester Harbin returns to coach the Lady Tigers after time at Oakland University (DI - Horizon League). He last coached at Salem in 2011-12. He will look to create some stability in the program and direct the team to a much improved and competitive season.  

Trevecca - The Trevecca women’s basketball team is coming off back-to-back seasons as the conference top overall seed and regular-season champion, but finished the season as the tournament runner-up. As coach Gary Van Atta approaches a few milestones, the Trojans will look to capture its first women’s basketball title in the G-MAC.  

Van Atta needs eight more wins to reach 600 in his career as a head coach, and he needs 10 wins to reach 200 victories at Trevecca. After making the transition from the NAIA to the NCAA Division II, this year features the first roster that has played its entire career against NCAA DII opponents.  

The team will return the trio of Christina Curtner, Kaci Britt Bell, and Sarah Raby. Bell, an all-conference first-team selection, leads the returners in scoring with 11.0 points per game, while Curtner joined her in double figures with 10.5 points per game. Raby was fourth in scoring on the team with 9.7 points per game, but an impressive 11.0 points per game in conference play.

Bell is approaching 1,000 points and would become the school’s first NCAA DII 1,000-point scorer, needing 295 points this season. As a team, they have one goal in mind -- win the conference championship regardless if it’s at home or on the road.  
 
Ursuline - The Arrows continue to improve under head coach Shannon Sword. After a 4-22 season in her first season, the team went 14-14 last season and 8-8 in conference and the league is taking notice, placing Ursuline fourth in the preseason poll with one first-place vote.
 
The team will have to replace the conference’s leading scorer in Tajanee Wells, but with seven freshmen and three sophomores plus a transfer in her second year, the team has only one player that has played more than one season with Ursuline.
 
Emma Rickets will return for her senior year, second overall year after transferring in prior to last season. She was a three-time G-MAC Athlete of the Week, making 25 starts in 28 games and averaged 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Senior Brianna Woods, the team’s all-time leader in assists, and sophomore Erica Huber, the G-MAC Freshman of the Year, will lead the young roster as it plays their final season without the advantage of the school’s brand new facility.

Ursuline will be without a home gym for the second straight season and the new athletic center is under construction and will open in June of 2015. The team will play six home games at John Carroll University, four at Lake Erie College, and two at Notre Dame College.