PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Coming off their first season under Head Coach Mandy King, in which they finished sixth in the Little East Conference, Eastern Connecticut State University Women's Basketball was picked to finish fourth with 42 points in this season's LEC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, as announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon. 

Last year's champion, the University of Southern Maine, which took down Rhode Island College, 71-54, was picked to finish second, just behind the Anchorwoman, who garnered 61 points and five first-place votes, with 60 points and four first-place votes. Narrowly ahead of the Warriors in third with 43 points was UMass Boston, while just behind Eastern in fifth was Keene State College with 40 points. Rounding out the lower half of the poll standings was WestConn in sixth with 28 points, UMass Dartmouth in seventh with 25 points, Plymouth State University in eighth with 17 points, and VTSU Castleton in ninth with eight points. 

In the first season under King, Eastern went 9-17 overall, closing at 6-10 in conference play, just two games back of the Beacons, who were in fourth place. Their trio of non-conference wins came against Hartwick College, Saint Joseph's College of Maine, and Bridgewater State University, with the win against Hartwick marking the first of King's head coaching career as a Warrior. 

Heading into her second year, King's team will feature the return of her top three scorers in senior forward Marissa Nudd (18.3 PPG), junior guard Liv Cassesse (11.8 PPG), and sophomore guard Maddie Topa (11.7 PPG). Nudd was named to the LEC All-Conference First Team, ranking second in points per game in the conference across 26 games played and led the team in rebounding, while Topa was the conference's Rookie of the Year, shooting 42.5% from the floor in 26 games played. 

After a year away, senior guard Nevaeh Clark will return to the team, having played 46 games in her first two seasons while averaging 6.3 points per game in a hybrid role both as a starter and off the bench. Her return is joined by the addition of senior guard Paige Fourtin, a transfer from Mercy University, and first-year forward Mia Pisciotti, who comes from Nathan Hale-Ray High School. 

The 2026-27 season for Women's Basketball kicks off on November 6th against Lasell University on the road, while November 11th will start the home slate of games against Salve Regina University in Geissler Gymnasium on November 11th. Other non-conference games will include road matchups against SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College in the Oneonta & Hartwick Classic, as well as a December 12th matchup with Bridgewater State University. Eastern will also travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a pair of games before New Year's against Mount Holyoke College and Christopher Newport University, while home non-conference games feature Salve Regina, Western New England University, and Connecticut College.

Conference play starts for Eastern on December 2nd against WestConn, which is the first of 16 games, 15 of which will come after January 1st, culminating with the regular-season finale against Plymouth State University on February 20th on the road.