BOSTON – With less than a month until conference play in America East women's basketball, Maine has been deemed the league favorite for the third consecutive year. The preseason poll and all-conference team were voted on by the league’s ten head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team.
In a poll that now features ten teams, Maine received six first-place votes while reigning regular season champion Stony Brook garnered the remaining four. UMass Lowell earned its highest-ever position in the poll at third while UAlbany rounded out the top four.
Maine became the first team in a decade to have three student-athletes selected to the preseason all-conference team. 2018-19 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Blanca Millan headlines the group of four seniors and one junior.
2020-21 America East Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
No. School Points (1st Place Votes)
1. Maine 78 (6)
2. Stony Brook 76 (4)
3. UMass Lowell 62
4. UAlbany 54
T5. Binghamton 43
UMBC 43
7. Vermont 36
8. Hartford 24
9. New Hampshire 23
10. NJIT 11
2020-21 America East Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Maeve Carroll, Sr., Forward - Maine
Kharis Idom, Jr., Guard - UMass Lowell
Blanca Millan, Sr., Guard - Maine
India Pagan, Sr., Forward - Stony Brook
Dor Saar, Sr., Guard - Maine
Fifteen student-athletes who have earned All-Conference, All-Defensive or All-Rookie honors in previous years will take the floor again in 2020-21.
Conference play begins Dec. 5 as New Hampshire will host the league’s newest member NJIT. A full slate of conference games are scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 19 as teams will play weekend series where a team hosts the same opponent on back-to-back days for two games. Information regarding the 2021 #AEPlayoffs will be announced at a later date. View the full 2020-21 women's #AEHoops schedule.
Fans will once again be able to watch every #AEHoops home game on The AE on ESPN. The majority of games will air on ESPN+ or ESPN3.
Follow the @AEHoopsNews Twitter account to stay up-to-date on #AEHoops news all season long.
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