2002-03 Women's Basketball Coaches Pre-Season Poll:
| School |
(1st) |
Pts. |
01-02 Overall |
01-02 NWC |
| Whitworth (Wash.) |
(5) |
79 |
18-9 |
12-4 |
| Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) |
(4) |
72 |
23-4 |
14-2 |
| George Fox (Ore.) |
|
62 |
20-6 |
11-5 |
| Linfield (Ore.) |
|
53 |
11-14 |
7-9 |
| Puget Sound (Wash.) |
|
46 |
19-6 |
11-5 |
| Pacific (Ore.) |
|
36 |
11-13 |
7-9 |
| Willamette (Ore.) |
|
34 |
11-14 |
6-10 |
| Whitman (Wash.) |
|
18 |
7-17 |
3-13 |
| Lewis & Clark (Ore.) |
|
14 |
7-18 |
1-15 |
(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis).
Whitworth is Narrow Choice to Supplant PLU in 2003
Spokane, Wash -- Whitworth College is a narrow choice by Northwest Conference women's basketball coaches to supplant Pacific Lutheran atop the NWC standings this season.
The Pirates, who finished second to the Lutes last season, picked up five first place votes and 79 total points. Helen Higgs, the 2002 NWC Coach of the Year, will welcome back three starters and three key players off of the bench, including second team All-NWC post Chrissy Oneal and honorable mention All-NWC forward Tiffany Speer.
Pacific Lutheran garnered the other four first place votes and totaled 72 poll points. The Lutes must replace three all-conference performers in Becky Franza, Jessica Iserman and Jamie Keatts. But the players coming back have the valuable experience of advancing to the NCAA sectional finals in 2002.
George Fox, the 2001 NWC champions, must also replace three all-conference performers (Heather Doud, Nicole Prazeau and Becky Thompson). The Bruins finished third in the poll with 62 points.
Linfield and Puget Sound finished fourth and fifth in the poll with 53 and 46 points, respectively. The Wildcats return second team All-NWC center Monica Schwing, while the Loggers look forward to the return of honorable mention All-NWC forward Lindsay May.
Pacific University (36 points) and Willamette University (38 points) were 6th and 7th in the poll. Whitman College (18 points) and Lewis & Clark College (14) points round out the poll in 8th and 9th place, matching the teams' finish last season.
Once again this season the Northwest Conference has an automatic (Pool A) bid to the NCAA tournament. That bid will go to the winner of the NWC tournament. The top three teams in the conference will qualify for the NWC tournament. The third place team will play at the second place team. The winner will play at the conference champion for the right to the automatic bid. Regardless of that outcome, the regular-season winner will retain the title of conference champion.
Several teams begin play on November 22nd.