WHITE LAKE, Mich. -- In a preseason poll of nine Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) women's basketball coaches, Hope College is favored to win the 2024 conference title after tallying a total of 62 points with six first-place votes.

Trine University received the three remaining first-place votes and a total of 57 points for the runner-up position, followed by Calvin University in third place with 51 points. Alma College earned a fourth-place finish in the poll with 41 points and Albion College finished fifth with 38 points. Adrian College (24 points) edged out both The University of Olivet (22 points) and Saint Mary's College (20 points) for sixth place, while Kalamazoo College (9 points) finished in ninth.

The Flying Dutch won the 2023-24 MIAA Championship with a league record of 15-1 and concluded the season in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 with an overall record of 26-4. Hope's roster will be headlined by the 2024 MIAA Most Valuable Player, Jada Garner. The senior guard concluded the season with a .467 field-goal percentage (50-of-107), a three-point field-goal percentage of .564 (22-of-39), a .778 free-throw percentage (28-of-36), 150 points, 53 rebounds, 35 assists, and 16 steals. Junior guard/forward Sydney Vis and senior guard Olivia Bellows will also be returning for the Flying Dutch after earning All-MIAA recognition in 2024.

Trine concluded the 2023-24 campaign tied-for-second in the league with a 12-4 record (22-8 overall), prior to upsetting its competition in the 2024 MIAA Tournament to claim the crown and compete in the NCAA Tournament. The Thunder will look to senior guard Sidney Wagner to lead the squad. Wagner is a two-time All-MIAA selection and was named the 2023 MIAA Most Valuable Player. She finished conference play last year with a .440 field-goal percentage (91-of-207), a free-throw percentage of .635 (40-of-63), 235 points, 91 rebounds, 54 assists, and 43 steals. Senior guard Sierra Hinds will also be back on the Trine roster after being voted to the 2024 All-MIAA Second Team.

The Knights tied-for-second in the regular-season standings last year with a 12-4 mark in league play and an overall record of 18-8. Calvin's roster will feature 2024 MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Valerie Dirkse. Dirkse, a senior forward, completed the 2023-24 campaign with a .500 field-goal percentage (27-of-54), a .741 free-throw percentage (20-of-27), 74 points, 122 rebounds, 37 assists, 22 steals, and 45 blocks. Forward RyAnn Rohrer appears on the roster as a redshirt this season after being voted to the All-MIAA First Team last year.

Alma finished the 2023-24 regular-season with a conference record of 9-7 and a 13-13 split overall. Senior guard Brooke LeRoux will highlight the Scots' roster after receiving a spot on the All-MIAA Second Team last season. In 13 league games played, LeRoux totaled 55-of-132 field goals (.417), 17-of-24 free throws (.708), 158 points, 84 rebounds, 31 assists, and 13 steals.

The Brits earned a league record of 11-5 last year and concluded the season with an overall record of 18-9. Senior guard Brazyll Watkins is expected to lead the team this year after receiving First Team All-MIAA accolades in 2024. In playing 13 conference contests, Watkins had a .476 field-goal percentage (81-of-170), a .717 three-point field-goal percentage (38-of-53), 206 points, 65 rebounds, 19 steals, 13 assists, and eight blocks.

The Bulldogs welcome Sam Miller back to his alma mater (2010) as the new head coach. Miller recently served as assistant coach and the Director of Scouting & Video Operations for the University of North Carolina women's basketball team. Adrian concluded the 2023-24 campaign with a 4-12 mark in league play and an overall record of 9-15.

The University of Olivet rounded out the six teams that competed in the 2024 MIAA Women's Basketball Tournament after finishing with a conference record of 6-10 (9-17 overall). The Comets will look to a duo of senior guards as their leaders this season: Lily Connelly and Clara Shoales.

The Belles (2-14 MIAA, 5-20 overall) will also be led by a new head coach this season -- Rob Hoffman. Hoffman was previously a member of the Trine women’s basketball coaching staff since 2017. He served as the Associate Head Coach since 2021 and was an Assistant Coach prior.

After going 1-15 in league competition and 4-21 overall last season, Kalamazoo will look to senior guards Jackie Brines and Jaelyn Horn to lead the squad this year.

The 2024-25 women's basketball season gets underway on Friday, November 8. League play begins on Wednesday, December 4, with Kalamazoo hosting Adrian at 6:00 p.m., Hope hosting Albion at 7:00 p.m., and Trine hosting Calvin at 7:30 p.m.

The 2025 MIAA Women's Basketball Tournament will be held on February 25 (first round), February 28 (semifinals) and March 1 (championship).

Rank	Team	Points	First-Place Votes
1.	Hope	62 points	6
2.	Trine	57 points	3
3.	Calvin	51 points
4.	Alma	41 points
5.	Albion	38 points
6.	Adrian	24 points
7.	Olivet	22 points
8.	Saint Mary's	20 points
9.	Kalamazoo	9 points

Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.