2017 PRESEASON ALL-PACWEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

2017 PacWest Women’s Basketball Poll
1.	Azusa Pacific (6)	180
1.	Point Loma (5)	180
3.	California Baptist (2)	164
4.	Hawai`i Pacific	153
5.	Dominican (1)	134
6.	Academy of Art	126
7.	Notre Dame de Namur	108
8.	Biola	94
9.	Concordia	82
10.	Hawai`i Hilo	75
10.	Dixie State	75
12.	Fresno Pacific	41
13.	Chaminade	34
14.	Holy Names	24
First-place votes in parenthesis

IRVINE, Calif. – Azusa Pacific and Point Loma were selected by the conference coaches as the PacWest Preseason Co-Favorites for the 2017-18 women’s basketball season, with Azusa Pacific receiving six first-place votes, while the Sea Lions received five.
 
Defending champion California Baptist is picked third and received two first-place votes, while Hawai`i Pacific is selected fourth. Dominican received one first-place vote and finished fifth in the preseason poll. The Penguins’ senior Sandra Ikeora is the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year.

Azusa Pacific returns each of its six leading scorers from last year’s team, which reached the PacWest semifinals, including Gabrielle Kaiser and Abbigail Goodsell, who are on the Preseason All-PacWest team. As juniors last year, the duo combined for 30.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. The Cougars finished the 2016-17 regular season winning eight of their last 11 games before claiming a 95-60 win over Notre Dame de Namur in the PacWest Tournament quarterfinals.
 
The Cougars have also added a pair of NCAA Division I transfers in sisters Savanna and Daylee Hanson. Savanna, the elder sister, was selected to the West Coast Conference all-freshman team after leading Santa Clara in assists and steals per game.
 
After finishing as the runner-up in the PacWest Championship last year, Point Loma is picked as the co-favorite for the 2017-18 season. Point Loma went 24-6 last year and reached the NCAA West Regional Tournament, where they lost to eventual regional champion California Baptist in overtime. The Sea Lions return a pair of Preseason All-PacWest selections in Alex Brunk and Roya Rustamzada. Brunk averaged a team-high 15.5 points per game, while Rustamzada averaged 13.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.

Last year, California Baptist ran through the PacWest schedule with a perfect 20-0 record en route to a national semifinals appearance for the second time in three years. With several new faces on the roster for the Lancers, they are picked third in the preseason poll. Tori Mitchell and Lexy Ram both return from the starting lineup that won the West Region last year. The Lancers also added 6-foot-2 transfer from Portland State Caroline Wich.
 
Hawai`i Pacific went 17-3 in conference play in the 2016-17 season and is picked fourth in the preseason poll. The Sharks return Breanna Mackenzie, who is on the Preseason All-PacWest team. The senior averaged 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as she led the Sharks to the postseason last year as the No. 8 team in the West Region.
 
Dominican returns the PacWest’s leading scorer in Ikeora, who along with averaging 22.6 points last year, also had 13.0 rebounds per game to lead NCAA Division II. She also ranked third in the nation in double-doubles with 20.
 
Academy of Art went 12-8 last year and is picked sixth in the preseason poll. Helena Orts received Preseason All-PacWest recognition for the Urban Knights. She averaged 15.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. She also ranked 30<sup>th</sup> in the nation in field-goal percentage, making 52.9 percent of her shots.
 
Notre Dame de Namur returns Marissa Caballero and is picked seventh in the preseason poll after reaching the conference tournament last year. Biola is picked eighth ahead of its first year competing in the PacWest. In the GSAC last year, Biola went 13-3 and won one of its three games against PacWest teams in non-conference play last year.
 
Concordia went 8-12 last year and is picked ninth in the preseason poll. Dixie State and Hawai`i Hilo are tied for 10th. followed by Fresno Pacific in 12th. Chaminade and Holy Names round out the standings, picked 13th and 14th, respectively.

The season will begin on November 3 with Azusa Pacific playing in a tournament in Anaheim against Wisconsin-Parkside. For the rest of the PacWest, the season will begin on November 10 with 11 teams in action. Hawai`i Pacific will be in Ellensburg, Wash. to face Alaska Anchorage, which was the top seed at the NCAA West Regional last year. The following day, California Baptist will host defending CCAA champion UC San Diego.