LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Austin College women's basketball team has been tabbed as the favorite for the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference basketball season, based on balloting form the league's head coaches. Complete .PDF
Austin College, coming off its third-straight 20-win season and its first-ever SCAC Tournament Title, collected five first-place votes to top the poll with 61 total points. Trinity University, which fell to the ‘Roos in the 2020 tournament final but earned the SCAC’s first NCAA at-large bid since the 2008-09 season after posting its seventh-straight 20-win season, garnered the final four first-place votes and finished just one point behind Austin College with 60 points. Colorado College, which matched the 2011-12 team with 10 conference wins last season – the most by any CC team since joining the SCAC for the 2007-08 season – rounded out the top three in preseason polling with 46 points. After hitting double-digit SCAC wins for the first time since 2015-16, Schreiner University finished fourth in the poll with 39 points, followed closely by University of St. Thomas in with 32 points, who made its SCAC debut last season with a 15-3 league mark. Southwestern University advanced to its second SCAC Tournament semifinal in the last three years in 2020 and landed sixth in the poll with 32 total points. Texas Lutheran University checked in at seventh with 25 points followed by Centenary College (15) and University of Dallas (9).
Austin College returns 74.0 percent of its scoring, four of its top five scorers, four all-conference performers and three starters off the 2019-20 squad that finished the regular season with an overall mark of 23-5 and made its third NCAA appearance in program history. Senior guard Kacie West headlines the ‘Roos returnees as a three-time All-SCAC honoree, including a first-team nod a season ago. West averaged a team-high 13.3 points on 37.9 percent shooting and collected 2.8 rebounds and added one assist per contest last season. Seniors Ally Longaker and Reagan Chiaverini, who earned second and third-team honors, respectively, join classmate West as all-conference performers returning this season. The duo led Austin College on the glass, combining for 378 total rebounds and while adding 305 points offensively. Rounding out the all-conference returnees is sophomore guard Sarah Gwin who earned honorable-mention All-SCAC accolades as a rookie. Gwin led the SCAC in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 40.8 percent of her attempts and averaged 8.3 points per game coming off the bench. Defensively, the ‘Roos are coming off their fifth-straight season in which they have led the league in defensive field goal percentage, and last year’s squad limited opponents to just 35.6 percent shooting from the field.
Austin College head coach Michelle Filander is back on the sidelines for her 11th season with the ‘Roos. In her 10 previous seasons, she has amassed an overall record of 148-112 (.569) and stands at 89-62 (.589) in SCAC play. The 2017-18 SCAC Coach-of-the-Year, Filander has guided the ‘Roos to a share of two SCAC Championships (2015-16, 2017-18), last year’s SCAC Tournament Title and an appearance in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.
The 2021 season begins on Friday, January 15th, with teams scheduled to play a 12-game conference-only schedule. The top eight teams, based on regular season results, will qualify for the 2021 SCAC Tournament. This year’s event is scheduled for March 4-6 and will be hosted by Austin College. .
2021 SCAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
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| 1. | Austin College (5) | 61 |
| 2. | Trinity University (4) | 60 |
| 3. | Colorado College | 46 |
| 4. | Schreiner University | 39 |
| 5. | University of St. Thomas | 37 |
| 6. | Southwestern University | 32 |
| 7. | Texas Lutheran University | 25 |
| 8. | Centenary College | 15 |
| 9. | University of Dallas | 9 |
