Tampa Claims Top Spot in 2024-25 SSC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll

Sunshine State Conference women’s basketball coaches select Tampa as the conference’s top team heading into the 2024-25 season. The Spartans are expected to win their ninth regular season title following 96 total points and seven first-place votes in the preseason poll.

Defending regular-season champion Nova Southeastern finished second in the preseason ranking with 94 points and the final four first-place votes. Embry-Riddle lands in third with 79 points, while Eckerd and Rollins round out the Top-5 with 68 and 62 points, respectively. Lynn finished sixth with 55 points, and Palm Beach Atlantic obtained 49 points for seventh place. They were followed in the voting by Barry (35 points), Florida Southern (35 points), Saint Leo (19 points), and Florida Tech (13 points).

2024-25 SSC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Nova Southeastern finished the 2023-24 season at 18-2 in the conference standings, claiming the program’s fifth overall SSC regular season title. Tampa followed with a 17-3 mark in SSC play, while Embry-Riddle finished third at 13-7. Fourth-seeded Eckerd defeated Tampa 65-57 to claim the conference postseason title.

Tampa, Nova Southeastern, Embry-Riddle, and Eckerd earned NCAA Division II tournament bids in 2023-24. Tampa defeated Embry-Riddle in the first rounds and Eckerd in the regional semifinals. In the regional finals, the Spartans took down Nova Southeastern by a final score of 63-56 to claim the South Regional title. The Spartans’ tournament run came to an end in the Elite Eight, where they fell 60-53 to Ferris State. UT’s tournament run brought the ninth Elite 8 appearance for the SSC and the second for the Spartans.

Tampa is the first SSC team to hit the court in the 2024-25, as they take on Seattle Pacific on Friday, November 1, in Langley, British Columbia, as part of the CCA Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic. All remaining league teams begin playing on Friday, November 8, or Saturday, November 9. The first conference game will be played between Eckerd and Florida Southern on Wednesday, November 13.

Below are the full results of the 2024-25 SSC preseason women’s basketball coaches’ poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their teams (points: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses).

2024-25 SSC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL

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