{"id":20633,"date":"2012-11-07T04:46:53","date_gmt":"2012-11-07T09:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utnews.utoledo.edu\/?p=20633"},"modified":"2012-11-07T07:52:53","modified_gmt":"2012-11-07T12:52:53","slug":"toledo-womens-basketball-picked-to-capture-mac-west-division-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/11_07_2012\/toledo-womens-basketball-picked-to-capture-mac-west-division-again","title":{"rendered":"Toledo women’s basketball picked to capture MAC West Division again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toledo is truly the media darling of the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets have been tabbed as the favorite to win the 2012-13 MAC West Division for a fourth consecutive season, according to a vote of members of the league\u2019s media contingent as well as the conference\u2019s 12 head women\u2019s basketball coaches.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Additionally, senior Naama Shafir, senior Yolanda Richardson and junior Andola Dortch were selected to the Preseason All-MAC West Division squad. Shafir becomes the first player in league history to earn preseason honors for a fourth consecutive year, while Richardson and Dortch are first-time recipients. <\/P><\/p>\n

Joining Shafir, Richardson and Dortch on the West Division squad were Central Michigan\u2019s Crystal Bradford and Eastern Michigan\u2019s Natachia Watkins.<\/p>\n

Since the MAC switched to divisional play for the 1997-98 season, UT has been picked to capture the West Division crown eight times. Tabbed to finish second in the West is Central Michigan, followed by Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Ball State.<\/p>\n

UT also received 16 votes to win the postseason tournament, while CMU captured 12 votes and Bowling Green had two tallies. The winner of the MAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

Toledo welcomes back 11 letterwinners, including four starters, from last year\u2019s squad that finished with a 24-10 overall record. The midnight blue and gold captured a share of a third consecutive MAC West Division crown with a 13-3 league ledger. In total, the Rockets welcome back 69.8 percent of their scoring, 75.5 percent of their rebounding, 71.1 percent of their assists, 87.6 percent of their blocked shots and 69.8 percent of their steals. With a number of key components returning, Toledo seeks a return to the \u201cBig Dance\u201d for the first time since 2001.<\/p>\n

Miami was picked to win the East Division, followed by BGSU, Akron, Ohio, Kent State and Buffalo.<\/p>\n

The East Division squad is comprised of Akron\u2019s Rachael Tecca, Bowling Green\u2019s Alexis Rogers and Chrissy Steffen, and Miami\u2019s Courtney Osborn and Kirsten Olowinski.<\/p>\n

The Rockets will open their season against Arkansas State Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in Savage Arena.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to see Toledo’s schedule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UT women’s basketball team, which has been picked to win the MAC West Division, will open their season against Arkansas State Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in Savage Arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}