Defending SCIAC regular season champion University of La Verne claimed the top spot in the 2023-24 SCIAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll as voted by the league’s head coaches, narrowly edging out California Lutheran University by just two votes.
The Leopards will look to repeat as SCIAC regular season champions after a posting a dominant 15-1 regular season record last season. They return both first team All-SCIAC selections Chiara Brown (13.8 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game, 49.5 field goal percentage) and Marissa Howell (13.0ppg, 35 percent from three-point range), though things will look different with new head coach Anthony Mason at the helm this season. Mason comes to La Verne after serving two seasons as the head women's basketball coach of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Not far behind the Leopards also having received four first-place votes are the Regals from California Lutheran University. CLU will be led by Second Team All-SCIAC and 2022-2023 Newcomer of the Year point guard Janna Holley. Holley averaged 12.3 points, 4.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game last season to lift the Regals into the SCIAC Tournament. A massive 11-player first-year class will provide unmatched depth on a roster with 22 players listed entering the season.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges show up in third having lost two All-SCIAC performers due to graduation. The Athenas return Renee Chong who appeared in 24 games, making 10 starts while averaging 12.3 points on the season (second best on the team) along with four others who averaged at least 5.0 points per game.
Reigning SCIAC Tournament winner University of Redlands come in at fourth and received one first-place vote. Things surely will look different for the Bulldogs starting lineup as they lost their top three scoring graduates from last season’s championship squad. Last season’s rookie duo of Aaliyah Anderson and Colbi Zorich will be primed for bigger roles this coming season after averaging 9.9 and 8.4 points per game last season, respectively.
The Chapman University Panthers just missed out on the SCIAC Tournament last season and are tabbed to match that finish of fifth place after the departure of all-time program great Julia Strand. Junior tandem Mia Yamamoto and Zoe Zurasky headline the returners, with the former having scored 12.7 points per game.
Occidental College returns Second Team All-SCIAC selection Paige Yasukochi, who was one of two first-years recognized after averaging 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges will be without the scoring prowess of SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Year Madison Quan, though she will be on the bench as an assistant coach this season. The Sagehens bring back their fourth- and fifth-leading scorers in Emily Lee and Sharon Nejad, who combined for 15.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
Caltech and Whittier College round out the poll in a tie for eighth place, as they both received 26 votes. Both teams return All-SCIAC selections, as the Beavers have First Team pick Kathryn Edwards, who averaged 16.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game, while the Poets return dual-sport star Rhe Nae Leach, a Second Team choice who posted 19.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.6 steals per game before also earning All-SCIAC recognition in four track & field events.
The women’s basketball season tips off on Friday, Oct. 27, as La Verne travels to Fresno State for an exhibition and Caltech hosts NAIA Westcliff University before the official season start on Friday, Nov. 10 with CMS hosting Lincoln University and all teams in action by the following weekend.
2023-24 SCIAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. La Verne, 65 points (4 first-place votes)
2. California Lutheran, 63 pts (4)
3. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 58 pts
4. Redlands, 56 pts (1)
5. Chapman, 47 pts
6. Occidental, 37 pts
7. Pomona-Pitzer, 27 pts
8. Caltech, 26 pts
8. Whittier, 26 pts
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