WINTHROP, Mass. – The 2021-22 Great Northeast Athletic Conference season will include a return to divisional play, as Emmanuel College and Regis College earned nine first-place votes apiece to stronghold the top spots in the annual GNAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll.
Under head coach Andy Yosinoff, who enters his 45th season and is the winningest Division III womens basketball coach with 853 career victories, the Saints received 87 points to lead the way in the North Division side of the poll after winning both the 2019 and 2020 GNAC Championships.
As for Regis, which joined the GNAC in 2017-18, the Pride have posted a stellar 27-12 mark in GNAC play in its three years with the league. New head coach Samantha Crough looks to lead the program after assistant coaching stints at Carnegie Mellon and Williams.
Finishing second to Emmanuel in the North was Saint Joseph's College of Maine, which won four GNAC titles in a five-year span from 2014-18 under longtime head coach Mike McDevitt, who has 553 career wins with the Monks.
Saint Joseph's returns all but one player – departed senior Jordan Jabar – from last year's team that went 5-1 in a shortened season. Senior guards Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) and Alyson Fillion (Bedford, N.H.) averaged 14.3 and 9.7 points per contest, respectively, during the 2020-21 campaign and both players garnered 2020 All-Conference accolades.
The Monks open the season with a game at Worcester State University on Saturday, November 13th and host UMaine-Farmington in the 2021-22 home opener at 5:30 PM on Tuesday, November 23rd. The Monks' first GNAC contest is a home game versus Albertus Magnus College at 1:00 PM on Saturday, December 4th.
The rest of the North included Norwich University with 49 points, Colby-Sawyer College with 39 points, Anna Maria College with 25 points, and Rivier University with 17 points.
Albertus Magnus College was the runner-up to Regis in the South poll, which collected four first-place votes and 77 points overall.
Making up the remainder of the South Division poll were Johnson & Wales University (62 points), University of Saint Joseph (45), Lasell University (41), Elms College (28), and Dean College (21).
Under the new GNAC divisional format, teams will play both home and away against each divisional opponent, and one game against each non-divisional opponent.
For the GNAC Tournament, teams will be seeded 1-4 by division and cross over in the tournament quarterfinals. The GNAC Quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, February 22, followed by the semis and totel game on Feb. 24 and Feb. 26.
2021 GNAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
NORTH
1. Emmanuel (9) - 74
2. Saint Joseph's Maine (4) - 69
3. Norwich - 49
4. Colby-Sawyer - 39
5. Anna Maria - 25
6. Rivier - 17
SOUTH
1. Regis (9) - 87
2. Albertus Magnus (4) - 77
3. JWU - 62
4. Saint Joseph CT - 45
5. Lasell - 41
6. Elms - 28
7. Dean - 21
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 14 member institutions and over 3,500 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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