Tight Trio Sits Atop CCAA Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
SAN RAMON, Calif. – In what is expected to be a hotly-contested season, UC San Diego was picked to finish first in the race to the top of the 2017-18 CCAA standings, as voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches.
The Tritons were also the preseason favorite heading into the 2016-17 campaign which saw the squad win the regular season battle, but fall to Cal State East Bay 62-53 in the tournament finale.
UC San Diego received 138 points and eight first place votes in this year’s iteration of the poll, followed closely behind by Cal State East Bay’s 133 points and three first place votes. Cal Poly Pomona comes in at the No. 3 position recording 127 points and the two remaining first place votes.
Following the top trio is the group of Cal State San Marcos (92), Cal State LA (90), Chico State (88), Sonoma State (79) and Cal State San Bernardino (73) to round out what would be the CCAA tournament field should the predictions ring true. Stanislaus State (63), Humboldt State (50), Cal State Dominguez Hills (40), Cal State Monterey Bay (27) and San Francisco State (14) round out the vote tallies.
Along with the regular-season title from a season ago, UC San Diego earned a berth in the NCAA West Regional as the fourth-seed where they suffered a 69-65 loss to Simon Fraser in the quarterfinal. The Tritons return five women who saw time in the starting lineup, including 2016-17 Newcomer of the Year Dalayna Sampton (10.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg). She is expected to be joined in the starting lineup by juniors Joleen Yang (9.4 ppg, 2.8 apg) and Paige Song (4.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg) and senior Taylor Tanita (9.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 6.0 apg) in the backcourt with sophomore Mikayla Williams (8.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg) teaming up with Sampton in the post.
Cal State East Bay is coming off a 22-9 season and that also closed with a West Region appearance. The Pioneers return the services of the CCAA’s leading rebounder from a year ago, Morgan Greene, who pulled down 10.2 boards per contest along with 7.9 points per game on 49.2 percent shooting in 2016-17. The Pioneers will look to replace the output of Player of the Year Shomari Harris and Remy Puou with some now-seasoned players in Bri Guillory (7.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and Elayshia Woolridge (7.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.3 apg) along with a handful of Division I transfer athletes.
Cal Poly Pomona slides into the third spot in the polls, mirroring their place in the 2016-17 final standings. The Broncos featured a stingy defense in 2016-17, holding opponents to a league-best 57.7 points per game, with 11 opponents not able to break the half-century mark. Cal Poly Pomona’s roster features two women from last season’s All-CCAA first team selections in seniors Chelsea Waddy-Blow (12.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Priscilla Brooks (10.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.0 spg).
Already seeing time on the court in exhibition play, 11 squads will hit the hardwood on Friday, Nov. 10 to open the season in earnest. Cal State San Bernardino joins the action on Saturday and San Francisco State’s season starts at home on Monday, Nov. 13.
The 2018 Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament continues with its eight-team format with first round contests played at campus sites. The semifinal and final contests will stay in the south for consecutive seasons, as the final rounds will take place at Kellogg Arena on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona. Tournament play is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 27, with the semifinal and championship rounds set for March 2-3 in Pomona.
2017-18 CCAA Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Place |
School |
Points (First Place Votes) |
| 1 |
UC San Diego |
138 (8) |
| 2 |
Cal State East Bay |
133 (3) |
| 3 |
Cal Poly Pomona |
127 (2) |
| 4 |
Cal State San Marcos |
92 |
| 5 |
Cal State LA |
90 |
| 6 |
Chico State |
88 |
| 7 |
Sonoma State |
79 |
| 8 |
Cal State San Bernardino |
73 |
| 9 |
Stanislaus State |
63 |
| 10 |
Humboldt State |
50 |
| 11 |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
40 |
| 12 |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
27 |
| 13 |
San Francisco State |
14 |