Anderson Favored to Repeat as HCAC Women's Basketball Champs
October 28, 2008
GREENWOOD , IN - Anderson University has been voted the favorite to capture the 2008-09 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball championship. The Ravens received six of the nine first-place votes in the HCAC Coaches Preseason Poll and collected 75 points in all. Manchester finished a close second in the preseason voting with 71 total points and one first place vote.
Hanover finished third in the voting with 60 points and a first place vote and was followed by Transylvania which claimed 53 points and the final first place vote. Franklin College (46 pts.), Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (30), Defiance College (27), College of Mount St. Joseph (26) and Bluffton University (17) rounded out the poll.
Anderson earned the school's second women's basketball championship last winter, finishing the 2007-08 campaign with a record of 18-8, 12-4 HCAC. The Ravens fell to Manchester in the HCAC tournament title game 52-50.
Anderson returns two All-HCAC selections, including last year's HCAC MVP Kayla Martin (Bedford , Ind. / North Lawrence ) . Martin averaged 13.5 points per game as a junior and also chipped in with 7.7 rebounds per contest. The other returning all-conference player for the Ravens is senior Mandy Seward (Beech Grove , Ind. /H.S.) . Last year as a junior, Seward averaged 8.1 points per game, 3.2 rebounds, 2.35 steals, and 4.69 assists per outing. One other player to watch this winter will be senior Mel Hawthorne (Indianapolis , Ind. /Perry Meridian) . Hawthorne was named to the All-HCAC Honorable Mention team last season after averaging 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Manchester College finished along side Anderson in the conference standings last winter, earning a share of the conference championship with a 12-4 conference mark. The Spartans defeated the Ravens 52-50 in the HCAC Tournament Championship game before falling to Wisconsin-Whitewater in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The black and gold return the core of last year's championship squad. Sarah Bose (Indianapolis , Ind. /Perry Meridian) was named the conference tournament's MVP for the second straight season. Bose ranked second on the squad in scoring (10.4 ppg) and added 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.75 steals per game. Kelley Meiklejohn (Ft. Wayne , Ind. /Carroll) returns after leading the squad in the scoring column last season. The senior forward ranked third in the HCAC, averaging 13.6 points per game and added 6.1 rebounds a game.
The Hanover women's team is coming off a 15-11 regular season, finishing 9-7 in conference play. The Panthers return two individuals that could help HC contend for a conference championship. Molly Martin (Terre Haute , Ind. /North) and Lacey Hornaday (Rushville , Ind. /H.S.) return after earning All-HCAC honors their freshman season. Martin was named the conference's Freshman of the Year after averaging a double-double with 15.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Hornaday averaged 9.2 points per game during her freshman season.
The opening weekend for all teams is November 21-22 with the first conference games scheduled for Dec. 3.