MINNEAPOLIS - The UW-Stevens Point women's basketball team will start the 2009-10 season ranked No. 23 by D3hoops.com. Last season the women's basketball team captured both the regular season and tournament championships in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and advanced to the Sweet 16.

Full Poll

The No. 23 spot in the preseason rankings is the highest for the Pointers since 2005-06 when the team entered the season ranked No. 21. The Pointers closed out the 2008-09 season with a No. 7 ranking.

Four teams received first place votes in the preseason poll, with Washington University edging the top spot, nine points ahead of No. 2 Amherst. Hope College starts the season ranked third, defending National Champion George Fox is fourth and Scranton rounds out the top five.

Two WIAC teams join the Pointers in the preseason poll, as UW-Whitewater ranks eighth and UW-Stout sits at No. 25.

During the course of last season, the Pointers set a new school record for consecutive victories with 14 and Head Coach Shirley Egner won her 350th game at the helm of the program on their way to capturing their fourth conference title.

The Pointers then captured their third WIAC Tournament Championship and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pointers defeated Maryville (Mo.) and Concordia (Wis.) in the tournament's opening rounds at home before falling to the Titans of Ill. Wesleyan.

The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.