Courtesy: Larry French

PRINCETON, N.J. - The two-time defending Ivy Champion Dartmouth women's basketball team is the media's choice for a three-peat, picked to finish first in the annual Ivy preseason poll.

In a poll of 16 media members and sports information contacts, Dartmouth received 11 first-place votes, garnering 123 of a possible 128 points. Harvard, which finished second in 2009, is a close second in this poll with 115 points and five first-place votes. Princeton and Columbia are neck-and-neck for the next two spots, with 86 and 83 points, respectively.

Dartmouth won its league-leading 17th Ivy Championship in 2008-09, going 18-11 overall and a near-perfect 13-1 in Ivy play. The Big Green has won four of the last five Ivy titles, including a share of the crown in 2007-08. Dartmouth represented the Ivy League in the NCAA Tournament last season, losing to Maryland in the first round. It marked the fifth-straight postseason appearance for the program earning NCAA bids in 2005, 2006 and 2009 and WNIT bids in 2007 and 2008.

Head coach Chris Wielgus enters her 25th year at the helm and has seen it all in the Ancient Eight. "I appreciate that we have been picked first but I put absolutely no stock in it," said Wielgus. "Nobody knows what is going to happen; the league is extremely balanced and I think there's teams in there that have been picked in traditional spots that belong higher. I have such respect for my opponents and I know that any one of us can win this Ivy Championship. I'm looking forward to starting the season and the only poll that matters is the one at the end of the year."

Cornell and Yale are tied for fifth in the poll with 57 points each, followed by Penn at seventh (36) and Brown at eighth (19).

Currently in her second stint in Hanover (1976-84, 1993-present), Wielgus has guided Dartmouth to 12 of its 17 Ivy Championships and all seven of its NCAA Tournament appearances.

Dartmouth returns three starters from last year's Ivy Championship team and has four on the roster with significant starting experience. Chief among those is junior forward Brittney Smith (Fort Worth, Texas), the 2009 Ivy League Player of the Year and 2008 Ivy Rookie of the Year. Smith was a dominant force last season, averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game and improving those numbers to 15.1 points, 8.4 boards per game.
Other returning starters include senior guard Margaret Smith (Fort Worth, Texas), who averaged 6.0 points and 5.5 rebounds and was one of the Big Green's top defensive players. Junior Meghan McFee (Manchester, Conn.) had a breakout season last winter, starting the last 17 games of the season and postign 5.4 points, 4.0 rebounds per game after playing in just 13 contests as a rookie.

Dartmouth will need to replace a talented senior class as both Koren Schram '09, a two-time first team All-Ivy guard, and Darcy Rose '09, a second team All-Ivy forward in 2009, took 21 points per game with them when they graduated. Senior guard Betsy Williams (Norwich, Vt.), who averages 5.6 points for her career and has started 36 games, and junior forward Cassie Cooper (Chelsea, Maine), who was the first player of the bench last season, are primed to take a bigger role. Dartmouth's third senior captain is Michelle Meyer (Covington, Ohio), who is back for her senior year after missing all of last season with an injury.

2009 Ivy League Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
(First-place votes)
1. Dartmouth (11) 123
2. Harvard (5)          115
3. Princeton               86
4. Columbia               83
5. Cornell                  57
    Yale                      57
7. Penn                     36
8. Brown                   19