LCSC men tie for top spot, women are second in preseason hoop polls 

10-12-07

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Lewis-Clark State College men’s basketball team was picked as the co-favorite to win the 2007-08 Frontier Conference title, while the women’s team was selected to finish second in a vote of the league’s coaches, which was announced on Friday. 

Both LCSC teams won the regular-season titles a year ago, but lost five players each to graduation. 

On the men’s side, LCSC and Westminster tied for first place. The Warriors received four first-place votes from the league coaches (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team), while Westminster had three first place votes. Carroll, which finished third in the poll, received the final first place vote. LCSC was picked to finish second on three ballots and third on another ballot. 

Westminster finished second to LCSC last season and lost to the Warriors 63-61 in the conference tournament championship game. 

On the women’s side, Carroll College, which won the conference tournament title in a 71-69 win over the Warriors last year, was picked to win the regular-season title. The Saints received five first-place votes, while LCSC received the remaining three. The surprise is Montana-Western, which has been a regular challenger for the title, was picked to finish seventh.           

Votes were 7 points for first, 6 points for second, 5 points for third, 4 points for fourth, 3 points for fifth, 2 points for sixth and one point for seventh. 

Women’s poll results – 1, Carroll (5 first place votes) 47 points; 2, Lewis-Clark State (3) 44. 3, Westminster 36. 4, Montana Tech 29. 5, Montana State-Northern 27. 6, Rocky Mountain 17. 7, Montana-Western 15. 8, Great Falls 9. 

Men’s poll results – 1, tie, Lewis-Clark State (4) and Westminster (3) 45. 3, Carroll (1) 36. 4, Rocky Mountain 32. 5, Montana State-Northern 27. 6, Montana-Western 18. 7, Montana Tech 14. 8, Great Falls 7.