2011 RMAC preseason poll and all-conference team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team was picked to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship this year, RMAC Assistant Commissioner Eric Danner announced today.

The Skyhawks, who were also ranked No. 6 in today's USA TODAY EPSN preseason NCAA Division II women's basketball poll, received nine first place votes and 17 points in the poll to outdistance No. 7 Metro State (five first place votes, 26 points). Colorado Christian was picked third (55 points), followed by Colorado Mesa (60), Colorado State-Pueblo (74), Nebraska-Kearney (75), Adams State (81), Western State (96), UC-Colorado Springs (109), Regis (120), Colorado Mines (121), Chadron State and New Mexico Highlands (139 each), and Western New Mexico (169).

Fort Lewis finished the 2010-11 campaign with 28-3 overall record and 20-2 in RMAC games. The 28-3 mark (.903) was the best season in school history in terms of winning percentage. After losing out on its fourth straight RMAC regular season crown on the season's final day, FLC won the RMAC Shootout for the first time ever and hosted the NCAA Division II Central Regionals for the second year in a row.

“We always have high expectations for our program and we don't expect this year to be any different,” said seventh-year FLC head coach Mark Kellogg, who ranks No. 5 in Division II in terms of winning percentage. Through his first six seasons at FLC, Kellogg's Skyhawks have posted an overall record of 147-41 (.782) and 97-20 in RMAC games (.829).

“We have a solid group of players back that are ready to put their stamp on our program,” he added.

Additionally, senior forward Dana Schreibvogel — a six-footer from Weld Central High School in Keenesburg — was chosen as the Preseason RMAC Player of the Year and was the lone Skyhawk on the Preseason All-RMAC squad. This came less than a month after she was tabbed as a Super 16 Selection by the Women's Division II Bulletin — essentially, a preseason All-America selection. She was also picked as the preseason Player of the Year for the RMAC by the Women's Division II Bulletin last month.

“The preseason player of the year for Dana is a tribute to her play from last year,” said Kellog. Dana had a great junior year and she has even taken her game to a new level. I'm excited for Dana to lead us this year.”

Fort Lewis has emerged as a national powerhouse the past four seasons, qualifying for the NCAA Division II playoffs all four years and advancing to the 2009 Sweet Sixteen and the 2010 Division II national championship game. The Skyhawks won three straight RMAC regular season titles from 2007-08 through 2009-10.

In addition to their success on the court, the Skyhawks also maintained the highest grade point average of any women's basketball team in the nation — 3.715 — the highest at all levels of collegiate basketball, including NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, plus NAIA and junior college teams.

Kellogg's team lost just two players after last season: all-time assists and three-point field goal leader Abby Jackson, who graduated with honors last April, and Andrea Owens, a reserve guard who played sparingly.

The Skyhawks host their final preseason tune-up at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Whalen Gymnasium when they face an FLC alumnae team. Players from the 1980s through last year will be represented on the alumnae team, including all five starters from the 2010 NCAA Division II runner-up squad.

Fort Lewis opens its regular season at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 12, at Eastern New Mexico.