Complete NAC Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll

WATERVILLE, Maine--The Maine Maritime Academy women's basketball team, which is the two-time defending North Atlantic Conference champion, is favored to win the NAC East Division ahead of the 2024-25 season. According to a vote of the division's five head coaches, the Mariners received all five first-place votes and earned 25 points to edge East foes Husson (20), Thomas (14), UMaine-Farmington (9) and UMaine-Presque Isle (7).

Maine Maritime returns four starters off last season's team that advanced to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship for the fifth time after capturing its second-straight NAC tournament crown. The Mariners went 22-5 overall and swept through the NAC schedule with a perfect 13-0. In 2023-24, Maine Maritime defeated SUNY Cobleskill, 78-62, for the NAC title before losing to eventual NCAA finalist Smith College.

Senior guard Erianna Moore headlines the list of returnees as she was voted the 2024 NAC Tournament Most Valuable Player. Moore also was named to the first teams for the Maine Women's Basketball Coaches Association (MWBCA) All-State and All-NAC after leading the Mariners with 13.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, 42 blocks, 111 assists and 41 steals. The 2023 All-NAC Second Team pick led the conference last season with a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio, and she became the school's all-time leader with 324 assists.

Senior forward Sydney Briscoe joined Moore on the 2024 NAC All-Tournament team and she also earned a spot on the conference's sportsmanship team. She averaged 8.0 points and 6.9 rebounds with 32 steals while starting 23 of 27 contests.

Junior guard Evelyn Dagan is a 3-point sharpshooter who led MMA with 61 goals from beyond the arc, ranking second in the NAC with 2.3 per outing. She averaged a career-best 9.5 points a season ago. Dagan's 116 career three-pointers made already ranks sixth in school history.

Senior guard Makenzie Monzon also returns as one of three Mariners who started all 27 of the team's games. She contributed 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per start and dished 93 assists for second on the team and fourth in the NAC.

Head coach Craig Dagan, who was tabbed the 2023-24 NAC Coach of the Year for his fourth such award, enters his 24th season at the helm of the Mariners. He is the program's all-time wins leader with a 395-199 (.665) career record, including a stellar conference mark of 249-89 for a .737 winning percentage.

Maine Maritime tips off the 2024-25 campaign this weekend in North Dartmouth, Mass., where it will competed in the UMass-Dartmouth Lafrance Hospitality Tournament. TThe Mariners will open with Wheaton (Mass.) at 5 p.m. Saturday, and play either UMass-Dartmouth/Union (N.Y.) at noon or 2 p.m. Sunday in the third-place or championship game.