WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University women's basketball team was selected fourth in the Northeast Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches, released on Thursday morning.

Senior Jennifer Bender (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) was also named to the All-NEC Preseason Team, joining Quinnipiac's Erin Kerner, Robert Morris's Sade Logan and Sacred Heart's Stephanie Ryan and Kaitlin Sowinski.

Aiming for its third consecutive conference championship and fifth straight 20-win season, Robert Morris is the coaches' preseason favorite to capture the 2009 Northeast Conference women's basketball crown.  The Colonials edged out defending NEC regular season co-champion Quinnipiac in the annual preseason poll of the leagues head coaches as each program garnered four first-place votes. 

Sacred Heart, the only program to land two representatives on the preseason all-league team, claimed the remaining three first-place nods to take third in the poll in front of fourth-place Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson in fifth.  Coming off back-to-back 20-win campaigns and an appearance in last year's NEC Tournament final, but under the direction of a new coach, Long Island finished sixth in the voting followed by Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (PA).  St. Francis (NY) and Wagner tied for ninth with Central Connecticut State rounding out the preseason selections.

The NEC's women's head coaches have not predicted the winner of the league since 2004-05 when Saint Francis (Pa.) won the conference championship.

Monmouth opens the 2008-09 season when they visit Saint Peter's on November 15 at 6:30 p.m.

2008-09
Northeast Conference
Women's Basketball
Preseason Coaches Poll

1.    Robert Morris (4)
2.    Quinnipiac (4)
3.    Sacred Heart (3)
4.    Monmouth
5.    Fairleigh Dickinson
6.    Long Island
7.    Mount St. Mary's
8.    Saint Francis (PA)
9.    St. Francis (NY)
        Wagner
11.    Central Connecticut State
 
First place votes in parentheses ( ).