Women's Basketball: Bison picked seventh in PAC Preseason Poll

GREENVILLE, Pa. - The Bethany College women's basketball team was selected to finish seventh in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll announced Friday afternoon (Oct. 20).

Washington & Jefferson earned six of the 11 first-place votes and totaled 95 points to secure the top spot in this year's poll. Placing second in the preseason balloting was Saint Vincent College, who gathered three first place votes and 91 points. The last two first-place votes went to Chatham, who totaled 84 points to place third in the preseason poll.

Ranking fourth in the poll was Westminster College with 75 points, while Allegheny College was fifth (58). Rounding out the balloting was Grove City College in sixth (54); Bethany College in seventh (50); Geneva College in eighth (38); Waynesburg University in ninth (28); Franciscan University in 10th (28) and Thiel College (10).

Under second year head coach Mikayla Lopez, the Bison look to return to the top of the PAC. Last season, the Bison battled injuries to key players, finishing the season 9-17 (9-11 PAC). Bethany returns 11, including former PAC Newcomer of the Year honorees Lindsey Garrison and Makenzee Mason.

Garrison and Mason earned a spot on the PAC Players to Watch list.

Garrison who picked up where she left off suffered a season ending injury just three games in the season. At the time of her injury, she was averaging 12.7 points with 2.3 steals per game.

Mason earned All-PAC honors for the third time in her career. She led the Bison with 11.9 points per game with 6.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. Battling injuries of her own, Mason scored 10 plus points 13 times and had 20 plus twice with two double-doubles.

Joining Garrison and Mason is senior Bella Skobel and junior Ashleigh Wheeler.

Skobel averaged 8.5 points with 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game last season. She scored a season-high 25 points while shooting 64.3 percent from the field with seven rebounds and three assists against Geneva.

Wheeler earned All-PAC honorable mention honors for the second straight season. She averaged 10.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists. The sophomore guard scored 10 plus points 13 times with 20 plus twice. She scored a season-high 23 points against Chatham.

The Bison have eight new faces on the bench.

Bethany opens the 2023 season at home on Nov. 8 at 6 pm against Penn State-Beaver.