NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Wheaton was picked to win the 2014-15 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) women's basketball title according to a preseason coaches' poll announced Thursday.
The Thunder (19-7, 9-5) won the poll with 48 points and six first place votes, while two-time defending champion Carthage (26-4, 13-1) was second with 44 points and two first place votes. Both teams advanced to the CCIW Tournament last season, while the Lady Reds won the tournament title and earned the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.
Elmhurst (14-12, 6-8) and Illinois Wesleyan (19-8, 12-2) finished tied for third with 32 points each, while Millikin (11-14, 5-9) was fifth with 22 points.
North Central (11-14, 4-10) was sixth with 20 points, followed by North Park (12-13, 5-9) in seventh with 17 points and Augustana (6-19, 2-12) in eighth with nine 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 do not vote for their own teams.
2014-15 CCIW Women's Basketball Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
First Place
Votes |
|
1 |
Wheaton |
48 |
6 |
|
2 |
Carthage |
44 |
2 |
|
T-3 |
Elmhurst |
32 |
|
|
T-3 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
32 |
|
|
5 |
Millikin |
22 |
|
|
6 |
North Central |
20 |
|
|
7 |
North Park |
17 |
|
|
8 |
Augustana |
9 |
|
Twitter: @CCIW_Athletics
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 2013-14 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,400 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 87 all-Americans.