2014-14 Women's Basketball CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll Release

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) has released the 2014-15 women's basketball preseason coaches' poll on Friday afternoon and Endicott has been selected to finish third with 80 points. Reining conference champions, #20 University of New England has been tabbed as the favorite after receiving 10 first place votes. Coming in the number two slot is Roger Williams who earned just two more points than the Gulls with 82. Earning the fourth and fifth seed votes were Salve Regina with 73 votes and Curry with 60.

Voting for the preseason poll was conducted among the league's head women's basketball coaches.

The Endicott women's basketball team is coming off a record breaking season as the Gulls finished at 23-7 (14-4 CCC) while earning the program's first ECAC title. Head Coach Brittany Hutchinson is eager to start the 2014 season in hopes to continue the program's success and introduce a talented group of newcomers to mix in with her well experienced veterans.

"As always, we will attack the season one day at a time and focus on becoming the best version of ourselves that we can.  We are young, but talented and we plan to continue making noise in the CCC, this season and beyond" says Hutchinson.

The Gulls will house three seniors, four juniors and two sophomores while adding five freshmen that will be led by tri-captains, Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.), Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.).

Whall and Cuddy will bring the most game-experience to this group. Cuddy started all but one game last season while compiling 367 points and earning All-CCC Third Team honors. Cuddy has consistently brought a lot of versatility to the court as she was second on the team in points while leading the roster defensively in blocks and steals. Whall has been a contributing member of the lineup since her freshman season. Last season she played in every game while putting up 345 points and earning All-CCC Third Team accolades.

Wright will look to take over the point guard position full time after being a major contributing ball handler coming off the bench last winter. Two other key returners will be juniors Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) and Caity Lowry (Quincy, Mass.). "Nicole and Caity are very honed in on what we want to do and what their role is and how they will contribute. They do not hold a captain title but they are very focused and vocal at practice and will be incredibly crucial to our success this season" states Hutchinson.

This season the women's basketball team will look to change their style a bit to fit the strengths of the team. "We are going to be much quicker than we have in the past, this team is more athletic and we have a bit more length" expresses Hutchinson. Adding to the mix will be a very strong freshmen class that will see some good time on the court, while Coach Hutchinson expects her upperclassmen to control the tempo of the season "The juniors and seniors know that this is now their time to  lead and shape this team's success." 

Coach Hutchinson has set up their schedule in order to prepare the team for conference play and success in the postseason. The schedule hosts two ranked opponents and regional contenders. "Our schedule is incredibly challenging, maybe the most challenging since I have been here. We want to create a tough schedule and continue to establish our program in the region. Those teams are going to be bigger, faster and stronger and are really well coached which I think will most prepare us for conference play."

The CCC will be extremely competitive this season as it has been in the past. The University of New England will enter the season ranked #20 in the nation while the Gulls will look to battle with Roger Williams and Salve Regina. Last year the Blue and Green had one of their most successful seasons overall but most importantly in conference play. Endicott will look to continue to climb up the ranks in the CCC while working to be a serious contender in the CCC postseason.

"I want to continue a winning mentality, to continue to build that strong mental culture," says Coach Hutchinson. As she enters her fourth season as the Head Coach she has continued to only make the women's basketball program better every season.

The Endicott women's basketball team will tip-off their season this weekend as they travel to Smith College for the Smith Tyler Tip-Off Tournament. On Saturday, November 15^th the Gulls will compete with NESCAC foe, Middlebury at 4:00 p.m. while either facing Smith or Rivier on Sunday, time is TBA.

The Endicott Sports Information Department will continue to provide livestats, audio and video for all women's basketball home games this season. Please stay connected with the 2014-15 schedule for those links and the most current information. If you are on the road and cannot keep up with live game updates follow @ECGulls and @EndicottWBB on twitter for live in-game tweets.

2014-15 CCC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll