Click here for the complete 2010-11 RMAC women's basketball preseason release

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team, which advanced to the 2010 NCAA Division II championship game, was picked second in the 2010-11 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason poll, RMAC Assistant Commissioner Eric Danner announced today.

The Skyhawks, who set school and league records for its 35-4 record (18-1 in the RMAC) last year, were edged out in voting by Adams State. Both schools received six first-place votes, but the Grizzlies had 25 total points to 29 by the Skyhawks. (Point totals correspond with the finish assigned by coaches; thus, a first-place vote on a given coach's ballot is worth one point.) Colorado Mines (1 first-place vote, 48 points) and CSU-Pueblo (one first-place vote, 50 points) rounded out the top four. All four teams qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs a year ago.

In addition, 5-foot-4 senior guard Abby Jackson was named to the Preseason All-RMAC team. Jackson, who hails from Tulsa, Okla., and graduated from Memorial High School, averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game in 2009-10. She also finished third in the nation in three-point shooting (.488) while earning second team All-RMAC, RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll and D2 Athletic Directors Association/WeatherPORT Academic Achievement accolades.

Last month, the Skyhawks were ranked No. 18 in the Women's Division II Bulletin preseason Top 25.

Eight players return from the 2009-10 team that posted an 18-1 mark in the RMAC for the third straight season. The Skyhawks defeated Colorado Mines (63-54), Augustana (79-52) and Concordia St. Paul (73-64) in the NCAA Division II Central Regionals. FLC's first-ever trip to the Elite Eight included wins over Seattle Pacific (68-59) in the quarterfinals and Franklin Pierce (79-64) in the semifinals. Emporia State beat FLC 65-53 in the national championship game, one that was tied at 38-38 with 8:31 remaining in regulation.

The Skyhawks open their regular season at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 13 against Eastern New Mexico University in Whalen Gymnasium. They'll tune up for the season this week when they travel to a trio of NCAA Division I opponents for exhibition games: Utah Valley on Thursday, Brigham Young on Friday and Arizona State on Sunday.