Posted: Nov 07, 2019
Texas Lutheran Women's Basketball picked second in SCAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs, the defending conference champions, finished in the runner-up spot in the 2019-20 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Bulldogs received four first-place votes and 72 total points.
Trinity is the preseason favorite. The 2019 tournament runner-up and 2018-19 regular-season champion, the Tigers received five first-place votes and 77 total points.
The Bulldogs are coming off their second SCAC Women's Basketball title in the last six years after defeating Trinity in the final, 68-62, last February in Seguin.
Austin College, coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons, was slotted in third in the poll with 64 points.
Southwestern, which last won a league title in 2014-15, garnered the final first-place vote and finished fourth overall with 61 points.
Colorado College, coming off its winningest season since 2011-12, rounds out the top five in fifth with 49 points, followed by Schreiner (36), Centenary (35), St. Thomas (26), Johnson & Wales (16) and Dallas (14).
The Bulldogs, led by eighth-year head coach Mel Dixon, open the regular season Friday and Saturday with road games at Hardin-Simmons and McMurry, respectively.
Off a team that went 19-10 overall and 12-4 in the SCAC and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament, TLU returns 12 of its top 13 scorers and eight of its top nine rebounders.
Only graduated senior Bryanna Delgado, who started on the wing, is not back in the starting lineup for the Bulldogs in 2019-20.
First Team All-SCAC selection Tara Molina, the 2019 SCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, leads a strong corps of returners. TLU also brings back 2019 All-SCAC Second Team performer Abby Hroch, 2019 SCAC Defensive Player of the Year Dominique Campos, and 2017-18 leading scorer Cami Davis, a senior guard that missed nearly all of last season with an injury.
Trinity returns five all-conference performers and all five starters off its 2018-19 squad that finished the regular season with an overall mark of 22-5 and advanced to a league record seventh-straight SCAC Tournament title game.
The 2019-20 season begins Friday while the SCAC Tournament will be held in Kerrville, Texas, hosted by Schreiner University beginning on Feb. 28.
2019-20 SCAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
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| 1. | Trinity University (5) | 77 |
| 2. | Texas Lutheran University (4) | 72 |
| 3. | Austin College | 64 |
| 4. | Southwestern University (1) | 61 |
| 5. | Colorado College | 49 |
| 6. | Schreiner University | 36 |
| 7. | Centenary College | 35 |
| 8. | University of St. Thomas | 26 |
| 9. | Johnson & Wales University (Denver) | 16 |
| 10. | University of Dallas | 14 |