BOSTON – The America East Conference unveiled its 2017-18 preseason women's basketball poll on Thursday, predicting the Vermont Catamounts to finish seventh after collecting 24 points.
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America East Preseason Poll
New Hampshire, the reigning conference regular season champion, was picked to finish first with eight of the nine first-place votes and 64 points overall. The UNH Wildcats were followed by Albany and Binghamton with 53 and 51 points respectively. Albany received one first place vote after coming off its' sixth straight America East tournament championship and, in turn, sixth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
Hartford, UMBC, and Maine were slotted fourth through sixth, while Stony Brook and UMass Lowell rounded out the poll in eighth and ninths positions respectively.
Vermont enters its second season under head coach
Chris Day and returns ten letterwinners from last year's squad, including the five players who logged the most starts.
Sydney Smith gears up for her senior season after leading the Catamounts in scoring (12.1 PPG) in 2016-17. Other key returnees include sophomore forward,
Hanna Crymble (11.4 PPG/6.4 RPG), and junior forward,
Candice Wright (7.6 PPG/5.3 RPG).
The Catamounts welcome aboard four newcomers for the 2017-18 season (all freshmen):
Kianna Funderburk (5-9, G, Charlotte, North Carolina),
Dani Lozzi (5-10, G, Horsham, England),
Josie Larkins (5-9, G, Lincroft, New Jersey) and
Carmen Handy (6-3, F, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada).
UVM hosts Saint Michael's College for an exhibition game on Saturday, Nov. 4 in a 4:00 p.m. tilt at Patrick Gymnasium. The Catamounts begin the regular season with a Friday, Nov. 10 contest at Dartmouth, which tips at 7:30 p.m. from Leede Arena in Hanover, New Hampshire.
All Vermont women's basketball games throughout the 2017-18 season will be broadcast live on WVMT-620 AM and all home games will appear on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Audio and live stats are available at CatamounTV.com.
Fans can purchase tickets to all Vermont women's basketball home games by visiting
UVMathletics.com/Tickets, or by calling the UVM Athletic Ticket Office at (802) 656-4410. On gamedays, tickets can be purchased beginning one hour before tipoff in the Patrick Gymnasium Lobby.
Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
- New Hampshire, 64 (8)
- Albany, 53 (1)
- Binghamton, 51
- Hartford, 43
- UMBC, 34
- Maine, 31
- Vermont, 24
- Stony Brook, 16
- UMass Lowell, 8
Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Sierra DaCosta, Hartford
Jessica Fequiere, Albany
Alyssa James, Binghamton
Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire
Imani Watkins, Binghamton
