Monmouth Basketball Ranked 1-2 in Midwest Conference Coaches' Polls
Monmouth, IL (11/01/2019) — Midwest Conference coaches agree, Monmouth College women's and men's basketball will be the teams to beat this season, tabbing the Fighting Scots women as the favorites to take the league crown and selecting the Scots' men as the No. 2 team to challenge for a league title.
Monmouth's women - which won their lone tournament title in 2012 - finished second in the regular season and league tournament a year ago and return the starting five from the tournament team to be the league favorite to earn their first league title this season. The Scots picked up 77 points and six first-place votes in the balloting and return three all-league players, seniors Becca Gallis and Carley Turnbull and junior Shayne Smith. Ripon, last year's season and tournament champion, was named second in the poll with 69 points and three first-place votes, St. Norbert - which picked up the remaining first-place vote - and Lake Forest were tied for third with 64 points. Cornell was a distant fifth with 43 points. The bottom five are Knox (40), Grinnell (32), Illinois College (29), Lawrence (19) and Beloit (13).
The Fighting Scots men last season rolled to a 10-4 record after December and knocked off regular season champion St. Norbert on the final day to make back-to-back appearances in the MWC Tournament. Monmouth, which earned 68 points with one first-place vote, returns all five starters and the majority of last year's team to trail only the Green Knights in the coaches' poll. St. Norbert took nine first-place votes to tally 81 points. Lake Forest is picked third just two points behind Monmouth, Grinnell was fourth with 55 points, five points ahead of No. 5 Ripon. The bottom five are Lawrence (46), Illinois College (30), Cornell (26), Beloit (18) and Knox (10).
Monmouth's women open play Nov. 8 at the MacMurray Invitational while the men begin play at home on Nov. 15 hosting Eureka. The women's home opener is set for Nov. 26 when they entertain Augustana.
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