Aug. 6, 2002
RICHMOND, Va. (August 6, 2002) - Old Dominion, which has captured the past 11 CAA women's basketball titles, is the heavy favorite to extend that streak in 2002-03 according to a pre-season poll of the league's head coaches.
The Lady Monarchs received eight first-place votes and earned 80 of a possible 81 points in the poll, but the voting was extremely tight for the next four spots. UNC Wilmington was picked second with 62 points, while George Mason, which received a pair of first-place votes, and James Madison tied for third with 61 points. Delaware was close behind in fifth place with 59 points. Rounding out the poll were Virginia Commonwealth, William and Mary, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson.
ODU returns six letterwinners from last season's 28-6 squad that was ranked 7th in the final USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship before falling to eventual national champion Connecticut. The Lady Monarchs posted a perfect 18-0 record in CAA play last season and have lost just one conference game in the last seven years. Among the top returnees for ODU are two-time all-conference guard Okeisha Howard and junior forward Monique Coker, who a CAA All-Tournament selection in 2002.
The CAA will announce its pre-season women's basketball all-conference team on Wednesday, August 7.
2002-03 CAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL
1. Old Dominion (8 first-place votes) 802. UNC Wilmington 623. George Mason (2 first-place votes) 61 James Madison 615. Delaware 596. Virginia Commonwealth 407. William and Mary 338. Drexel 259. Hofstra 1910. Towson 10(Teams were awarded 9 points for a first-place vote, 8 points for second, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.)