Orangeburg, NY (10/28/10) Holy Family University and Caldwell College have been chosen to win their respective divisions according to the 2010-11 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Basketball preseason poll. The voting was conducted by the 14 CACC head coaches. Holy Family garnered 12 of 14 first place votes to top the South Division poll, while Caldwell was picked first on eight ballots to claim the North Division.

Holy Family, which received 96 total points in the voting, is coming off one of the most successful seasons in CACC Women's Basketball history. The Tigers advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament, falling in an epic overtime thriller to the No. 2 nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce Ravens. Seven players return for Holy Family, including first team All-CACC and Division II Honorable Mention All-American, Catherine Carr, who averaged 17.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per-game last season. Also back is junior guard Lauren Peters, who claimed third team All-CACC accolades. The Tigers are ranked No. 4 in the Women's Division II Bulletin pre-season poll after going 30-3 last season and 19-0 in conference play. Entering the season, the Tigers are riding a 103-game conference regular-season win streak, which is a NCAA Division II record. Holy Family has also won 65 consecutive regular-season home games.  

Fourth-year head coach Jen Carleton's Goldey-Beacom College squad has all five starters returning from a 2009 team that nearly doubled its 2008-09 win total last season with a 17-12 record. The top seven scorers are back, including junior second team All-CACC pick, Jacinda Jones (15.7 ppg) and All-CACC honorable mention, sophomore forward Devonne Richardson (10.9 ppg, 9.8 rpg). The Lightning were the No. 3 seed in the South Division for last season's CACC Tournament and upended Philadelphia University in the quarter-finals before falling to Nyack in the semi-finals. The Lightning went 12-7 in conference regular-season play. GBC picked up two first-place votes in this year's poll and ended up with 80 total points.

In the North Division, Caldwell and head coach Linda Cimino return all five starters and 11 of 13 players from last year's squad that went 15-12 and tied for second in the North with an 11-8 conference record. Leading the returnees is senior guard Kirsty Leedham, who averaged a team-best 19.7 points per game and earned All-CACC first team and Daktronics All-East Region second team honors. Caldwell also features the past two CACC Rookies of the Year in sophomore guard Torey Jones and junior forward Kaitlyn Lambert. Jones scored 15.6 points per contest as a freshman and made the All-CACC third team. The other returning starters are senior guard Abena George, who led the league in steals last season at 2.9 thefts per game, and sophomore center Gillian Felix, who ranked sixth in blocks with 1.2 per contest.

Caldwell earned eight first-place votes and 91 total points in the voting.

Nyack, the defending CACC Tournament Champion, was picked second in the North with 79 points and four first-place votes. Bloomfield College collected the other two first-place votes. The Warriors stunned Holy Family to win last season's CACC Championship, 45-43, after falling behind 19-0 to start the contest. Because of that win, Nyack earned its first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. The Warriors went 21-12 overall and 13-6 to win the North Division Regular-Season Championship. Back to lead the team will be senior forward Victoria Sweet, who was a first team All-CACC selection last season after averaging 13.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per-game.  

2010-11 CACC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

North Division

() – first place votes

South Division

() – first place votes