NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Defending national champion Illinois Wesleyan was picked to win the 2013 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) women's basketball title according to a preseason poll announced Wednesday.
The Titans (28-5, 13-1 in 2012), coming off their first national title in program history, finished first in the poll with 47 points including six first place votes. Illinois Wesleyan will go for its sixth-straight conference title and seventh overall this season.
Carthage (23-8, 10-4), a team that advanced all the way to the sectional final last season, finished second in the poll with 43 points and one first place vote, followed by Wheaton (18-8, 11-3) with 38 points and one first place vote.
Elmhurst (16-9, 7-7) placed fourth in the poll with 31 points, followed by 2012 CCIW Tournament qualifier Millikin (15-11, 7-7) with 26 points. North Central (7-18, 1-13) and North Park (10-15, 4-10) finished tied for sixth with 14 points while Augustana (11-14, 3-11) was eighth with 11 points.
Voting is done by the CCIW’s head women's basketball coaches. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The 2012 poll was announced in conjunction with the
CCIW Women's Basketball Coaches Chat on Wednesday, October 24.
2012-13 CCIW Women's Basketball Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
First Place
Votes |
|
1 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
47 |
6 |
|
2 |
Carthage |
43 |
1 |
|
3 |
Wheaton |
38 |
1 |
|
4 |
Elmhurst |
31 |
|
|
5 |
Millikin |
26 |
|
|
T-6 |
North Central |
14 |
|
|
T-6 |
North Park |
14 |
|
|
8 |
Augustana |
11 |
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2011-12 academic year, the CCIW honored 1,323 academic all-conference recipients, 16 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 1 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, 89 all-Americans and three national championship teams.