SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Coming off its fourth straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball title, the University of New England was picked to lead the pack once again after earning the top spot in the CCC women's basketball preseason coaches poll.

UNE received 91 points and six of the possible 10 first place votes that were cast by the league's head women's basketball coaches.

Last season, the Nor'easters ran the table in the CCC, compiling a 18-0 (25-4 overall) record in conference play before playing their way through the Conference Tournament to claim the crown for the fourth year in a row.

The Nor'easters earned the right to host first and second round games of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, but their journey ended early with a 70-60 first-round loss at the hands of Moravian.

Roger Williams was slotted into the second spot in this year's table with 84 points and one first place vote. The Hawks were one of three teams tied at 13-5 in conference play last year. They ended up seeded third last year's CCC Tournament due to tiebreakers. They were defeated in the CCC Semifinals by Western New England.

The 2015-16 CCC Tournament runner-up Golden Bears placed third in this year's poll with 82 points and the three remaining first place votes. WNE also played to a 13-5 (19-11 overall) CCC record and went into the tournament as the No. 2-seed.

Endicott and Salve Regina finished fourth and fifth on this year's ledger with 81 and 56 points, respectively.

Eastern Nazarene (50 points), Curry (43), Nichols (22), Wentworth (21), and Gordon (20) closed out this year's poll in that order.

The CCC women's basketball season gets going on Nov. 15 with all 10 teams opening their non-conference schedules. The quest for the CCC title begins on Nov. 30 with the start of conference play. The top eight teams in the conference standings at the end of the season will earn entry into the CCC Women's Basketball Tournament, which starts with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The tournament will conclude on Saturday, Feb. 25 with the CCC Championship game. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament.

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Click HERE to view the whole 2016-17 CCC women's basketball schedule.