MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team has been recognized as one of the favorites to take home the conference crown, as voted on by the league's coaches and announced by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon. 

NSU finished second in the ranking with 91 points, while receiving four first-place votes. Tampa has earned the top spot following 95 total points and six first-place votes in the preseason poll. The defending SSC tournament champion, Florida Southern, rounds out the top three as they were awarded with 78 total points, including one first-place tally. 

The Sharks finished 2018-19 with an overall record of 21-12 and a 13-7 mark against Sunshine State Conference oppositions en route to an Elite Eight appearance. As a program, the NSU women's basketball team has captured three regular season championships and two SSC tournament championships in the past seven years under head coach LeAnn Freeland-Curry.

Continuity will be an advantage for this year's group as the team welcomes back 10 returning players to compliment three newcomers, including key contributing starters Jordan Tully and Claire McMahon who averaged 11.2 and 10 points per game, respectively. The squad will also receive a lift from Skyla Osceola who missed the entire 2018-19 season, as well as Esabelle Levine who was only featured in two games last season as both athletes return to full health for the upcoming season.
 
The Sharks will begin Sunshine State Conference play on Nov. 23, traveling to Tampa to take on the conference-favorite Spartans. This game will provide an excellent benchmark for both teams early in the season before they are set to rematch at the Rick Case arena on Jan. 25. 

The team will continue to prepare for the upcoming campaign as they take on Florida Atlantic in an exhibition tune-up game, Saturday Nov. 2 in Boca Raton, Fla.   

Below are the full results of the 2019-20 SSC preseason coaches' poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams (points: 11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses).

2019 - 20 SSC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL