The Carthage College women's basketball team was ranked No. 28 in the "D3hoops.com" pre-season poll. Defending-national-champion Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham (16 first-place votes) led the rankings, followed by Amherst College (2 first-place votes) second, Thomas More College (3 first-place votes) third, Tufts University (1 first-place vote) fourth, Wisconsin-Oshkosh (2 first-place votes) fifth, Hope College (1 first-place vote) sixth, national-runner-up Whitman College seventh, the University of Scranton eighth, DePauw University ninth, Washington University (Mo.) 10th, Montclair State University 11th, the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) 12th, Texas-Tyler 13th, Wisconsin-Whitewater 14th and New York University ranked 15th.  CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill.) was ranked 19th and Carthage College 28th in the pre-season poll.

Fairleigh-Dickinson-Florham (7 first-place votes) was ranked first in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today NCAA Division III poll, followed by Thomas More second, Tufts third, Hope (1 first-place vote) fourth, Amherst fifth, Whitman sixth, DePauw seventh, Wisconsin-Oshkosh eighth, Washington (Mo.) ninth, Montclair State 10th, Wisconsin-Whitewater 11th, Texas-Tyler 12th, St. Thomas (Minn.) 13th, Scranton 14th and Williams College ranked 15th.  CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill.) was ranked 19th and Carthage College 20th in the WBCA poll.

Carthage College was picked to finish second in this year's College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin pre-season poll.  The eight CCIW coaches picked Wheaton College (Ill., 48 points, 6 first-place votes) to win this year's title, followed by Carthage (44 points, 2 first-place votes) second, Elmhurst College (32 points) and Illinois Wesleyan University (32 points) tied for third place, Millikin University (22 points) fifth, North Central College (20 points) sixth, North Park University (17 points) seventh and Augustana College (Ill., 9 points) eighth.

Carthage opens its 2014-15 season by playing in the Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 15-16 Wisconsin-Stevens Point "Pointers Tip-Off Tournament" at Berg Gymnasium in Stevens Point, Wis.  Carthage plays Ripon College on Saturday, Nov. 15 in a 1 p.m. first-round game, with UW-Stevens Point taking on Luther College in the other first-round contest at 3 p.m.  The consolation and championship games will be played at Sunday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Head coach Tim Bernero was interviewed on Oct. 29 by College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Assiistant Commissioner Mike Krizman for the CCIW's "Google Hangout on Air." Here are some excerpts from the interview:  "We have never tried to replace a player like Stephanie Kuzmanic on a one-for-one basis," said Bernero.  "She was a unique player.  We'll have somebody playing the point guard this year, but it won't be exactly the way as she did.  It looks like transfer-Erin Thomas will assume that role this year.  Erin played at NCAA Division I Loyola University (Ill.) for two years, so it's not like we're throwing a freshman out there.  We're going to play a group that has some experience, but not necessarily experience at starting games.  We've learned to elevate bench players to starting players, and the group that's probably going to start this year all played tons on key minutes last year in big games.  It's their turn to step up and produce at a high level.  I don't think any of them are afraid of those kind of games.  Getting good shots for the people who are good shooters has been part of our success over the past few years, and we'll have to duplicate that again."

For more of Coach Bernero's pre-season remarks, click here for the CCIW Basketball "Google Hangouts on Air."