ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon women's basketball team will start this season right where it ended its record-breaking 2015-16 campaign – at No. 2 in the NAIA Div. II Top 25.

The preseason coaches' poll was released Tuesday by the national office. Marian (Ind.), which defeated SOU in last season's title game, received all 12 first-place votes, and the Raiders were second in the poll followed by Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Morningside (Iowa) and St. Francis (Ill.).

The Cascade Conference has two other ranked squads: No. 17 Eastern Oregon and No. 20 Oregon Tech, which is coming off its first-ever win at the national tournament.

Last year, the Raiders were 16th in the preseason. Despite their 16-0 start, they didn't crack the top-10 until mid-January. They eventually became the first CCC team to advance to the national final since 1997, finishing with a record of 33-2.

This year they return three starters – point guard Demi Sahlinger, wing Tiani Bradford and All-CCC forward Autumn Durand – along with the CCC co-defensive player of the year, Toria Bradford, and the CCC freshman of the year, Courtney Setzer.

SOU opens the season Nov. 3 at Humboldt State.
 

2016 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Preseason (Oct. 25)

RANK	LAST WEEK^	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	2016 Record	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Marian (Ind.) (12)	32-6	312
2	2	Southern Oregon	33-2	296
3	8	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	27-9	283
4	3	Morningside (Iowa)	33-3	280
5	13	St. Francis (Ill.)	28-5	277
6	7	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	30-4	262
7	8	College of the Ozarks (Mo.)	28-5	254
8	11	Davenport (Mich.)	28-6	240
9	12	Indiana Wesleyan	27-8	227
10	10	Tabor (Kan.)	28-8	218
11	4	Goshen (Ind.)	27-9	209
12	16	Jamestown (N.D.)	29-5	190
13	22	Purdue Northwest (Ind.)	22-9	187
14	19	Concordia (Neb.)	22-10	186
15	14	Briar Cliff (Iowa)	23-10	178
16	6	Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)	29-6	172
17	RV	Eastern Oregon	21-10	116
18	20	St. Ambrose (Iowa)	22-10	107
19	14	Cardinal Stritch (Wis.)	25-8	98
20	17	Oregon Tech	26-9	94
21	RV	IU Northwest	22-10	89
22	24	Dickinson State (N.D.)	23-9	87
23	NR	Madonna (Mich.)	17-11	85
24	25	Milligan (Tenn.)	23-8	76
25	20	Haskell (Kan.)	23-7	71

 

Dropped from the rankings: No. 5 Mount Marty (S.D.); No. 18 Asbury (Ky.); No. 23 Lawrence Tech (Mich.).
Others receiving votes: Indiana East 69; Friends (Kan.) 64; Indiana Tech 46; Northwestern (Iowa) 36; Asbury (Ky.) 31; Bryan (Tenn.) 24; Southeastern (Fla.) 19; Hastings (Neb.) 19; Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 17; Taylor (Ind.) 17; Oklahoma Wesleyan 9.