Women’s Basketball Tabbed Second In PSUAC Preseason Poll

MEDIA, Pa. -- The Penn State University Athletic Conference released its preseason women's basketball coaches poll last week and Penn State Brandywine was selected to finish second in the 12-team league.

Coming off an 18-8 season, Brandywine returns four of its top five scorers to Head Coach Larry Johnson's 10th team, including all-American point guard Cashae Hinton.

Hinton, who was the Lions' fourth-leading scorer at 9.3 points per game, led the PSUAC in steals per game, while finishing fourth in assists per game last season. The senior needs 117 points to reach 1,000 for her career.

Also nearing 1,000 career points is senior Lauren Munro, who enters the season 40 points shy of the mark. In addition to scoring 10.1 points per game, Munro led the team in rebounding at 5.6 board per outing and added 58 steals.

Brandywine's group of experienced guards also includes three Gledhill sisters: seniors Jilly and Jessy and sophomore Chrissy; along with junior Chelsea Dent. Jessy Gledhill made 12 starts and collected 7.4 points per game, while Jilly Gledhill put up 3.4 points per outing and Chrissy Gledhill returns as one of the team's top long-range threats after sinking 21 three-pointers in 23 games as a rookie.

Brandywine's top returning scorer is junior forward Olivia Encarnacion, who averaged over 11 points per contest in 21 games last winter. Encarnacion also tallied 93 rebounds to add to Brandywine's front court, which also includes sophomores Alyssa Abbonizio and Melanie Kempf. Abbonizio is one of four returners to appear in all 25 games last season, averaging 4.3 rebounds and 4.1 points, while Kempf, who missed the first two months due to injury, scored 4.6 points per game.

The Lions open their 25-game regular season with a three-game road trip that starts Saturday at Berkeley College with tip-off slated for noon.