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Brooklyn, NY - The Northeast Conference women’s basketball coaches aren’t expecting Robert Morris to relinquish the throne.
The defending champion Colonials earned first-place votes from all 10 opposing head coaches to top the annual NEC preseason poll for the second year in a row.
It’s been quite a run by Robert Morris, which has advanced to the NEC Championship Game each of the last six years. RMU has secured four NCAA Tournament berths during that span.
Saint Francis U, RMU’s opponent in the two most-recent NEC title tilts, took second place in the league’s predicted order-of-finish.
Mount St. Mary’s and Sacred Heart, both conference tournament semifinalists last March, finished in a tie for third place.
Bryant and St. Francis Brooklyn, each of which are home to a preseason all-NEC honoree, received the same amount of poll points and sit together in the fifth slot.
Wagner took seventh place, one spot ahead of Verrazano Bridge rival Long Island University, which welcomes a new head coach.
Fairleigh Dickinson, which also has a new leader on the sidelines, claimed the No. 9 slot followed by Central Connecticut in tenth. NEC newcomer Merrimack, which has tipped off the NCAA Division I reclassification process, rounded out the poll results in 11th place.
The conference unveiled the poll order along with a five-member Preseason All-NEC Team as part of its eighth annual #NECHoops Social Media Day at Barclays Center.
Each of the 11 NEC members will contest an 18-game regular season league schedule with the top-eight finishers qualifying for the conference’s postseason tournament.
The eight-team tournament, the winner of which will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Big Dance, will follow a high-seed, home-site hosting format. The four quarterfinal games are set for March 9 with the semifinal round to follow on March 12. The 2020 NEC Women’s Basketball Championship Game will reach a live national television audience for the 13th consecutive year on Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 pm ET.
Robert Morris returns nine letter winners, including three starters, from a team that won 19 of 21 games against NEC opponents last season. Having led the circuit in scoring defense each of the past four seasons, Charlie Buscaglia’s team welcomes back reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year Nneka Ezeigbo. The 6-foot-3 center, who went on to win NEC Tournament MVP honors, doubled as the team’s leading scorer and rebounder. RMU also returns a bevy of three-point shooters. Isabella Posset (34), Nina Augustin (52), Honoka Ikematsu (54) and Esther Castedo (44) all hit the long ball well last year.
Saint Francis U, which owns a record 12 NEC Tournament titles, has a new head coach (Keila Whittington), but the expectations haven’t changed in Loretto. Three returning Red Flash starters were key contributors to last year’s run to the conference championship game, including Haley Thomas who averaged 12.4 points per contest against NEC foes. It will be the first time in five years that SFU will compete without all-time NEC leading scorer Jessica Kovatch, who signed a professional contract in Germany following her graduation. Guard Sam Sabino, the Red Flash’s defensive leader from last season, will be back on the floor in Loretto. Sabino along with Thomas and Karson Swogger will serve as tri-captains for the 2019-20 Flash.
TEAM CAPSULES
BRYANT
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: t-5th
2018-19 Overall Record: 11-19
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 9-9/5th
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 9/5
Key Returnees: Sydney Holloway (Sr., G/F, 5-10): 17.8 ppg (3rd in NEC), 11.2 rpg (1st in NEC), 2x All-NEC First Team
Masey Zegarowski (Sr., G, 5-8): 7.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.7 apg
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: 10th
2018-19 Overall Record: 7-21
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 4-14/9th
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 9/4
Key Returnees: Ashley Berube (Jr., C, 6-2): 9.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, .514 FG pct.
Ashley Forker (Jr., F, 5-10) 3.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.3 apg (23 starts – 28 app)
Bruna Vila Artigues (Sr., G, 5-6): 2.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.0 apg (24 starts – 28 app)
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: 9th
2018-19 Overall Record: 8-22
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 5-13/8th
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 10/5
Key Returnees: Lauren Francillon (Sr., F, 6-2): 9.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg
Madison Stanley (Jr., F, 6-1): 7.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg
LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: 8th
2018-19 Overall Record: 4-25
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 3-15/10th
Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 10/2
Key Returnees: Jeydah Johnson (Jr., G, 5-10): 13.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.8 3FGM/g
Brandy Thomas (So., G/F, 5-10): 13.9 ppg (8th in NEC), 10.4 rpg (2nd in NEC); NEC Rookie of the Year
MERRIMACK
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: 11th (ineligible for postseason)
2018-19 Overall Record: 20-10
2018-19 Conf Record: 12-9/4th (NE-10)
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 9/3
Key Returnees: Denia Davis-Stewart (Sr., F, 6-1): 13.4 ppg, 11.2 rpg, .503 FG pct.
Mayson Kimball (Jr., F, 5-11): 12.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg
Alyssa Casey (Jr., F, 5-11): 11.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg
MOUNT ST. MARY’S
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: t-3rd
2018-19 Overall Record: 15-16
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 8-10/t-6th
Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 7/2
Key Returnees: Michaela Harrison (So., G, 5-7): 13.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 84 3FG (3rd in NEC)
Jatarrikah Settle (Jr., G, 5-9): 9.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg
Rebecca Lee (Jr., C, 6-2): 8.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .510 FG pct.
ROBERT MORRIS
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: 1st (unanimous)
2018-19 Overall Record: 22-11 (NCAA)
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 16-2/1st
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 9/3
Key Returnees: Nneka Ezeigbo (Sr., C, 6-2): 12.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.3 bpg: NEC DPOTY, NEC Tourney MVP (2019)
Isabella Posset (So., G, 5-8): 7.6 ppg, 2.7 apg
Nina Augustin (Jr., G, 5-6): 7.5 ppg, 2.3 apg, 52 3FG
SACRED HEART
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: t-3rd
2018-19 Overall Record: 19-13 (WNIT)
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 14-4/2nd
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 8/5
Key Returnees: Adrianne Hagood (Jr., G, 5-8): 11.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.5 apg
Allyson Murphy (Sr., G, 5-5): 5.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.5 apg
Olivia Dabney (Jr., F, 5-10): 6.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg
SAINT FRANCIS U
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: 2nd
2018-19 Overall Record: 16-17
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 11-7/4th
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 9/6
Key Returnees: Haley Thomas (Jr., F, 5-11): 9.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.9 apg; Tri-Captain
Karson Swogger (Jr., G, 5-8): 9.2 ppg, 2.9 apg; Tri-Captain
Sam Sabino (Sr., G, 5-9): 5.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg; Tri-Captain
ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: t-5th
2018-19 Overall Record: 18-13
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 12-6/3rd
Starters Returning/Lost: 2/3
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 3/10
Key Returnees: Jade Johnson (Sr., G, 5-9): 19.9 ppg (2nd in NEC), 4.4 rpg, 100 3FGM (2nd in NEC), .917 FT pct. (1st in NEC)
Ally Lassen (Jr., F, 6-1): 10.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .569 FG pct. (1st in NEC)
WAGNER
2020 Predicted NEC Finish: 7th
2018-19 Overall Record: 10-20
2018-19 NEC Record/Finish: 8-10/ t-6th
Starters Returning/Lost: 3/2
Letter winners Returning/Lost: 10/3
Key Returnees: Khaleah Edwards (Jr., G, 5-8): 8.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Emilija Krista Grava (So., F, 6-0): 10.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Morgan Lenahan (Jr., G, 5-11): 9.5 ppg (as redshirt freshman in 2017-18)