CLEVELAND, OHIO ? Bowling Green and Toledo topped this year’s MAC Preseason Poll as voted on by the leagues head coaches and select members of the media. The Falcons were also picked to claim the tournament title again this season.
2010 MAC Tournament and Regular Season Champion Bowling Green returns 10 letterwinners, including three starters from last year’s team that went 27-7 and 14-2 in conference play. Leading the team is senior, back-to-back MAC Player of the Year Lauren Prochaska. Prochaska scored a school record 609 points last season, averaging 17.9 points per game. She also led the team with 5.7 rebounds per game. Also returning for the Flacons is All-MAC second team selection Tracy Pontius. Pontius was second on the team in scoring, with 11.7 points per game. BGSU opens the season on the road November 11th at Evansville and return for their final season at Anderson Arena on November 15th against Creighton.
Toledo enters the 2010-11 campaign coming off one of the best seasons in the history of the storied program, as the Rockets won the Mid-American Conference West Division title and advanced to post-season play. UT recorded a record of 25-9 overall and 12-4 in the league. A key returner for the Rockets is Naama Shafir who contributed 14.3 points, 6.7 assists (third nationally), 3.6 rebounds and a team-high 2.0 steals in 31.4 minutes per game in 2009-10, garnering second-team All-MAC accolades. Also returning for the Rockets is Melissa Goodall. Goodall averaged 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 26.5 minutes per game last season, earning honorable mention All-MAC accolades. The Rockets open the season at home November 12th against St. Francis (Pa.) in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.
Kent State was picked to finish behind the Falcons in the east division. The Golden Flashes advanced to postseason play for the first time in six seasons with their WNIT berth. Leading the Golden Flashes is All-MAC First Team player Jamilah Humes. Humes led the Golden Flashes with 14.6 points, 3.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game while ranking third on the team in rebounds. Also returning is senior point guard Stephanie Gibson who currently ranks 10th in team history for career assists (324).
Eastern Michigan was voted to finish second in the west. EMU returns 10 letterwinners and four starters from a 2009-10 squad that posted a 22-9 record en route to earning a berth in the Postseason WNIT. EMU became the first MAC women’s basketball team to post a 20-win season following a year in which the team won less than 10 game. Junior guard Tavelyn James leads the Eagles’ offensive attack after leading the MAC in scoring at 20.7 points per game. Senior guard Cassie Schrock again looks to provide a major presence for the Green and White after finished as the league’s runner-up in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Rounding out the East Division are Miami, Akron, Ohio, Buffalo and in the West Division Central Michigan, Ball State, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, respectfully.
Also being voted on was the All-MAC Preseason Teams. Joining Prochaska and Humes on the east are Kara Murphy of Akron, Kourtney Brown of Buffalo and Kourtney Osborn of Miami. Murphy, an All-MAC Second Team honoree, led the Zips in scoring with 13.8 points per game and averaged 4.6 rebounds per game. Brown, last season’s Defensive Player of the Year and All-MAC First Team honoree set the UB single-season record with 346 total rebounds and is third in the MAC record books. Osborn, MAC Freshman of the Year averaged 16.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 33.6 minutes per game of action. Her 513 points set a new Miami freshman single-season record for points scored and was the fifth-highest single-season total in school history.
For the west, joining Shafir and James were Emily Maggert of Ball State, Marke Freeman of Northern Illinois and Miame Giden of Western Michigan. Maggert holds the BSU record for rebounds in a season with 329 and ranks seventh all time in rebounds with 687 and led the team with 17.0 points per game and 10.6 rebounds. Freeman was named All-MAC Second Team after ranking third in the league in scoring with 18.8 points per game in league play last season. She also totaled 78 steals, the 10th-most in the Huskie record book. Giden led the Broncos in scoring averaging 14.4 points per game. She also led the team in free throws made (96-for-130).
East Division
1. Bowling Green
2. Kent State
3. Miami
4. Akron
5. Ohio
6. Buffalo
West Division
1. Toledo
2. Eastern Michigan
3. Central Michigan
4. Ball State
5. Northern Illinois
6. Western Michigan
Tournament Champion ? Bowling Green
East Division Preseason Team
Kara Murphy, Akron
Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green
Kourtney Brown, Buffalo
Jamilah Humes, Kent State
Courtney Osborn, Miami
West Division Preseason Team
Emily Maggert, Ball State
Tavelyn James, Eastern Michigan
Marke Freeman, Northern Illinois
Naama Shafir, Toledo
Miame Giden, Western Michigan
2010 MAC Tournament and Regular Season Champion Bowling Green returns 10 letterwinners, including three starters from last year’s team that went 27-7 and 14-2 in conference play. Leading the team is senior, back-to-back MAC Player of the Year Lauren Prochaska. Prochaska scored a school record 609 points last season, averaging 17.9 points per game. She also led the team with 5.7 rebounds per game. Also returning for the Flacons is All-MAC second team selection Tracy Pontius. Pontius was second on the team in scoring, with 11.7 points per game. BGSU opens the season on the road November 11th at Evansville and return for their final season at Anderson Arena on November 15th against Creighton.
Toledo enters the 2010-11 campaign coming off one of the best seasons in the history of the storied program, as the Rockets won the Mid-American Conference West Division title and advanced to post-season play. UT recorded a record of 25-9 overall and 12-4 in the league. A key returner for the Rockets is Naama Shafir who contributed 14.3 points, 6.7 assists (third nationally), 3.6 rebounds and a team-high 2.0 steals in 31.4 minutes per game in 2009-10, garnering second-team All-MAC accolades. Also returning for the Rockets is Melissa Goodall. Goodall averaged 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 26.5 minutes per game last season, earning honorable mention All-MAC accolades. The Rockets open the season at home November 12th against St. Francis (Pa.) in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.
Kent State was picked to finish behind the Falcons in the east division. The Golden Flashes advanced to postseason play for the first time in six seasons with their WNIT berth. Leading the Golden Flashes is All-MAC First Team player Jamilah Humes. Humes led the Golden Flashes with 14.6 points, 3.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game while ranking third on the team in rebounds. Also returning is senior point guard Stephanie Gibson who currently ranks 10th in team history for career assists (324).
Eastern Michigan was voted to finish second in the west. EMU returns 10 letterwinners and four starters from a 2009-10 squad that posted a 22-9 record en route to earning a berth in the Postseason WNIT. EMU became the first MAC women’s basketball team to post a 20-win season following a year in which the team won less than 10 game. Junior guard Tavelyn James leads the Eagles’ offensive attack after leading the MAC in scoring at 20.7 points per game. Senior guard Cassie Schrock again looks to provide a major presence for the Green and White after finished as the league’s runner-up in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Rounding out the East Division are Miami, Akron, Ohio, Buffalo and in the West Division Central Michigan, Ball State, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, respectfully.
Also being voted on was the All-MAC Preseason Teams. Joining Prochaska and Humes on the east are Kara Murphy of Akron, Kourtney Brown of Buffalo and Kourtney Osborn of Miami. Murphy, an All-MAC Second Team honoree, led the Zips in scoring with 13.8 points per game and averaged 4.6 rebounds per game. Brown, last season’s Defensive Player of the Year and All-MAC First Team honoree set the UB single-season record with 346 total rebounds and is third in the MAC record books. Osborn, MAC Freshman of the Year averaged 16.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 33.6 minutes per game of action. Her 513 points set a new Miami freshman single-season record for points scored and was the fifth-highest single-season total in school history.
For the west, joining Shafir and James were Emily Maggert of Ball State, Marke Freeman of Northern Illinois and Miame Giden of Western Michigan. Maggert holds the BSU record for rebounds in a season with 329 and ranks seventh all time in rebounds with 687 and led the team with 17.0 points per game and 10.6 rebounds. Freeman was named All-MAC Second Team after ranking third in the league in scoring with 18.8 points per game in league play last season. She also totaled 78 steals, the 10th-most in the Huskie record book. Giden led the Broncos in scoring averaging 14.4 points per game. She also led the team in free throws made (96-for-130).
East Division
1. Bowling Green
2. Kent State
3. Miami
4. Akron
5. Ohio
6. Buffalo
West Division
1. Toledo
2. Eastern Michigan
3. Central Michigan
4. Ball State
5. Northern Illinois
6. Western Michigan
Tournament Champion ? Bowling Green
East Division Preseason Team
Kara Murphy, Akron
Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green
Kourtney Brown, Buffalo
Jamilah Humes, Kent State
Courtney Osborn, Miami
West Division Preseason Team
Emily Maggert, Ball State
Tavelyn James, Eastern Michigan
Marke Freeman, Northern Illinois
Naama Shafir, Toledo
Miame Giden, Western Michigan
