AUSTINTOWN – The Wilmington College women's basketball team was picked to finish third in the 10-team Ohio Athletic Conference in a vote of conference coaches, announced today (Wednesday, November 2) by the league.

"Preseason polls are nice for generating some interest in the basketball season," said Wilmington head coach Jerry Scheve. "I guess the coaches thought we really under achieved last year, since we have pretty much the same team back this year. I hope we are ready to make that step up, and do even better than predicted. I think we can. Our players are working hard, and we have good senior leadership. We will see."

Reigning regular season champion Ohio Northern garnered seven first-place votes and 79 points total to earn the distinction as preseason favorites.

Baldwin Wallace earned the other three first-place votes for 74 points.

Wilmington, which picked up 57 points, was followed by John Carroll (45), Capital (44), Otterbein (44), Heidelberg (38), Mount Union (38), Marietta (21) and Muskingum (10).

The Fightin' Quakers return four starters, including All-OAC selections Brittaney Jefferson (Dayton, OH/Chaminade Julienne) and Mackenzie Campbell (Cincinnati, OH/Turpin), from a team that finished 11-16 overall, 7-11 in the OAC.

Wilmington kicks off the season 6 p.m. November 15 by hosting Denison.