HUDSONVILLE, Mich. -- In a preseason poll of nine Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) women's basketball coaches, Trine University is favored to win the 2024 conference title after tallying a total of eight points with all-possible first-place votes.

Hope College received the remaining first-place vote and a total of eighteen points for the runner-up position, followed by Albion College in third place with 20 points.  Alma College and Calvin University tied-for-fourth with 32 points each.  Adrian College (47 points) edged Saint Mary's (50 points) for sixth place, while The University of Olivet (54 points) and Kalamazoo College (63 points) finished in eighth and ninth, respectively.

The Thunder garnered a 14-2 conference record and an overall record of 23-7 on the way to the 2023 MIAA Women's Basketball Co-Championship title.  The Trine roster will be headlined by 2023 MIAA Most Valuable Player Sidney Wagner.  The junior guard finished the 2023 campaign as the league leader with 272 points and 17.0 points per game.  Wagner was named a Third Team All-American by D3hoops.com after earning a spot on the All-Region 7 First Team.  She was also ranked in the top five with 107 field goals, a .566 field-goal percentage, a .431 three-point field-goal percentage, and 35 steals.  Wagner was named United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Division III National Player of the Week early last season.  She was recently announced to the D3hoops.com Preseason All-America Second Team.

Hope wrapped up the 2022-23 season tied-for-first with a 14-2 mark in league contests and an overall record of 26-3.  The Flying Dutch won the 2023 MIAA Women's Basketball Tournament crown before competing in the NCAA Tournament.  In losing its three All-MIAA honorees from last season, Hope will look to six upperclassmen as its leaders:  senior center Raven Jemison, junior center Courtney Lee, junior guards Jada Garner, Brooklyn Robak, and Olivia Bellows, and junior guard/forward Hannah Kurncz.

Albion concluded the 2022-23 campaign with a 10-6 conference record (17-10 overall).  The Briton roster will feature seniors Daniah Beavers and Lolo Reed who both earned All-MIAA recognition last year.  Beavers, a 2023 First Team All-MIAA center, finished her junior year as the league leader with a .618 field-goal percentage, 77 offensive rebounds, 164 total boards, and 10.3 rebounds per contest.  Two-time All-MIAA guard Lolo Reed was top ten in the conference with 71 field goals, 40 free throws, 29 offensive rebounds, 61 defensive boards, 90 total rebounds, 54 assists, and 22 steals.

The Scots earned an 8-8 mark in league play last season with an overall record of 10-16.  Alma will look to three time All-MIAA guard Taylor Sas in her senior year.  Sas wrapped up 2022-23 as the MIAA's leader with 514 minutes played, 32.1 minutes per game, 272 points, and 17.0 points per contest.  She was also in the top five with 89 field goals, 39 triples, 55 free throws, and a free-throw percentage of .797.

Calvin finished third last season with a conference record of 12-4 and an overall record of 21-6.  In losing their three 2023 All-MIAA honorees, the Knights will turn to the five juniors for leadership throughout the year:  guards Emma Witte and Allie Mayes, and forwards Sophie Sensenig, Valerie Dirkse, and Grace Rosser.

In rounding out the six teams that competed in the 2023 MIAA Tournament, Adrian finished the year with a 6-10 league record and an overall record of 10-16.  Saint Mary's wrapped up the 2022-23 campaign with a conference record of 4-12 (7-18 overall), followed by Olivet (3-13 MIAA, 6-19 overall) and Kalamazoo (1-15 MIAA, 1-24 overall).  The Hornets welcome Ryan Clark back to his alma mater (2011) as their new head coach.  Clark previously coached for four seasons at Alma; one season as the women's head coach and three seasons as the men's head coach.

The 2023-24 women's basketball season gets underway on Wednesday, November 8.  League play begins on Wednesday, November 29, with Adrian hosting Kalamazoo at 7:00 p.m., Olivet hosting Alma at 7:00 p.m., Albion hosting Hope at 7:30 p.m., and Calvin hosting Trine at 7:30 p.m.

Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.