Women’s basketball picked sixth in 2020-21 HCAC preseason poll

CARMEL, Ind. – The 2020-21 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, composed of a vote of the conference's head coaches, was released by the HCAC office on Tuesday morning. The Defiance College women's basketball team is picked to finish sixth among the 10 HCAC squads. 

Transylvania was pegged to finish first in the poll receiving 80 points, followed closely by Franklin, who tallied 70 points. Anderson and Hanover tied for third, each collecting 57 points. Bluffton rounds out the top five with 47 points in the polling. 

Defiance finished behind their rivals with a total of 33 points. Following the Yellow Jackets in the poll are Mount St. Joseph and Rose-Hulman, each receiving 30 points. Earlham is polled to finish ninth with a total of 20 points, and the HCAC women's basketball coaches poll is rounded out with the Manchester Spartans tallying 16 points.

Four Yellow Jackets find their names on the 2020-21 HCAC Players to Watch list including, senior guard Kalyn Pickens (Fort Wayne, Ind. / R. Nelson Snider), junior guard Taylor Day (West Mansfield, Ohio / North Union), and a pair of sophomores, guard Nicole Sims (Camden, Ohio / Preble Shawnee) and forward Josi Wolf (LaRue, Ohio / Elgin).

Pickens played in 25 games while making nine starts last year. She scored 117 points, grabbed 63 rebounds while dishing out 30 assists, and added 14 steals.

Day played and started in 24 games, where she scored a team-leading 218 points, averaging 9.1 per game. She also led the team with 35 steals and 118 rebounds to earn her All-HCAC Honorable Mention accolades. 

Sims played in 24 games, making 17 starts, where she recorded a team-high 53 assists. Wolf appeared in 25 games making 24 starts, scoring 130 points, and averaging 5.2 points per game. She finished her rookie season second on the team in rebounds with 113 and in steals with 17. Wolf also led the Yellow Jackets with 21 blocks.  

Defiance under the direction of third-year head coach, Allan King Jr., finished the 2019-20 season 7-18 overall and 6-12 in conference play, tying for seventh place. The Yellow Jackets are set to begin the season in the Karl H. Weaner Center this Friday, January 15, as they take on local rival the Bluffton University Beavers. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 pm.