WBCA Division III Preseason National Polls
D3hoops.com Division III Preseason National Polls
REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Basketball team is less than a week away from beginning their 2022-23 season and they come in receiving six votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division III Preseason National Polls and another three votes in the D3hoops.com Division III National Polls.
The Bulldogs return seven players from last year's squad that reached the SCIAC Tournament for the fourteenth straight year and won the regular season SCIAC Championship Title for the third time under Head Coach Rich Murphy. Three of these players were All-Conference performers in Hannah Jerrier, Alyssa Downs, and Chyanne Pagkalinawan. Jerrier was also named 2nd Team All-West Region by d3hoops.com, is the reigning SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Year and was named the SCIAC Athlete of the Week a record five times. Downs hit the 1,000 career points milestone last year and is currently at 1,244 career points, 332 points off program leader Leslie Ferguson (1992-1995). Coach Murphy will begin his 16th season in charge of the Bulldog women's team, having amassed a record of 236-136, 153-61 SCIAC.
Redlands finished with a 19-5 overall record last year that included a 14-2 mark within conference play. The Bulldogs won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Regular Season Championship Title and locked up the No. 1 seed in the SCIAC Tournament. U of R topped 90 points once in a win over Pacific (OR) and scored 80 or more points seven times. They also had a pair of six game winning streaks during the season. The first coming from December 20, 2021-January 19, 2022, which was sparked by an upset win over then No. 13 Wartburg College (72-65) and the second going from February 5, 2022-February 22, 2022.
In program history the Maroon and Grey have won five SCIAC Championships and made four trips to the NCAA National Championships. Three of the titles and two of the trips have come under the direction of Coach Murphy. UR is also the only team in the conference to have qualified for the SCIAC Tournament every year since its existence, which began 14-years ago, all coming under Coach Murphy. ______________________________________________________________________
The WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll Committee is composed of one head coach from each of the 10 NCAA Division III conferences. The committee for the 2022-23 season: Samantha Crough, Regis; Karin Harvey, Montclair State; Casey Kushiyama, Puget Sound; Jen McCormick, Illinois College; Bobbi Morgan, Ursinus; Alex Richey, Oglethorpe; Mia Smith, Illinois Wesleyan; Daphne Thompson, SUNY Oneonta; Kelly Thompson, Roger Williams; Suzy Venet, Mount Union.