COLONIA, N.J. – Coming off its fifth straight ECC Championship, the Daemen University Wildcats were picked as the favorites in the 2026-27 Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's nine head coaches. Queens senior forward, Nkiru Awaka was unanimously named Preseason Player of the Year additionally.
 
Daemen garnered 79 points and seven first-place votes to headline the preseason poll. The Wildcats finished the 2025-26 stanza with a 26-4 overall record, including a 15-1 ECC mark, clinching a share of the ECC Regular Season title (their seventh straight) and winning their fifth consecutive ECC championship. Daemen advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season and reached the East Region Final for the second time in three years. The Wildcats earned the No. 3 seed in the regional tournament, beating No. 6 seed Felician (75-62) in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Bentley (58-55) in the semifinals, before falling to No. 5 seed Holy Family (78-62) in the regional final. Daemen’s best play came on the road, with the team going 11-0 in away contests, marking the second time in its Division II era that the team was undefeated on the road and the 11 road wins were the most over that time span. The Wildcats led the ECC in scoring (71.7 ppg), assists to turnover ratio, blocks (4.7 bpg), field goal percentage (41.5), scoring margin (+14.2), steals (15.7 spg), turnover margin (+9.57), turnovers forced (25.13), turnovers per game, and winning percentage. On the national leaderboard, the team was fifth in steals and turnover margin, seventh in winning percentage, eighth in turnovers forced, tied for 13^th in blocks, and 16^th in scoring margin. Daemen is looking to secure its sixth straight ECC crown, which would match the Saint Rose run from 1995 through 2000, and the Wildcats are seeking an unprecedented seventh overall championship title, which would be the most all-time by an ECC program, surpassing Saint Rose’s six championships.
 
2026 ECC Championship runner-up, Mercy was chosen second in the preseason poll with 71 points and one first-place vote. The Mavericks had a historic 2025-26 season, going 15-1 in ECC play, their most ECC wins in program history, and winning a share of their first-ever ECC Regular Season Championship. It was also the fourth straight season Mercy recorded double-digit ECC wins, making its sixth straight ECC Championship berth. Overall, the Mavericks had a 22-8 record and won their most wins since 1985. Mercy qualified for its second NCAA Tournament in three years and made its third appearance overall in 2026, falling to second-seeded Bentley in the First Round. A stout defensive unit, Mercy allowed an ECC-best 57.0 points per game and held its opponents to 27.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc, which also led the ECC. Offensively, the Mavericks were second in the ECC in scoring (65.0), field goal percentage (40.8), free throw percentage (76.2), and scoring margin (+8.0). Mercy has never won an ECC Championship, but the team has made the championship final in two of the past three seasons, making it to the title games in 2024 and 2026.
 
D'Youville collected 59 points and the final first-place vote to conclude the poll’s top three. Last year, the Saints went 10-15 overall and 7-9 in the ECC, earning the fourth seed in the ECC Championship field for the second straight season. The Saints proved to be the top three-point shooting team in the ECC during 2025-26, logging conference-highs with 8.2 triples made per game, 23.7 threes attempted per outing, and making 34.4 percent of their three-pointers each contest. The squad was also second in the ECC in defensive rebounds (28.4), and third in assists (14.0), field goal percentage (40.0), scoring defense (60.3), and rebound margin (+0.5). D’Youville has earned an ECC postseason berth in three straight years, but the team has yet to record an ECC Championship victory, having dropped First Round games in each season.
 
Picked fourth was District of Columbia (45) and Staten Island (43) followed in fifth to round out the league’s top five of the poll. Closing out the poll were Queens (33), St. Thomas Aquinas (32), Molloy (30), and Roberts Wesleyan (13).
 
The ECC’s top returning scorer and rebounder, Awaka was unanimously voted as the Preseason Player of the Year. A native of Hyde Park, N.Y., Awaka had a career season in 2025-26, making 27 starts, while averaging 15.0 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 1.6 blocks, and 1.1 assists per game. She was the only ECC player to grab 10+ rebounds per game and the lone player to average double figures in two categories, while also recording a league-leading 19 double-doubles. Awaka compiled totals of 405 points, 314 rebounds, 62 steals, 43 blocks, and 29 assists on the season, posting five 20-point performances and at least 10 rebounds in 19 contests. The frontcourt standout ranked among the conference leaders in scoring (4^th), total rebounding (1^st), offensive rebounds (1^st), defensive rebounds (7^th), field goal percentage (1^st), free throw percentage (11^th), blocks (4^th) and steals (5^th). Awaka capped off her junior campaign with a selection to the First Team All-ECC and All-Met Division II First Team honors. For her career, she has amassed 1,077 career points, 832 rebounds, 162 steals, 93 blocks, and 29 assists, while winning an ECC Defensive Player of the Year (2025), ECC Rookie of the Year (2024), two-time First Team All-ECC (2025, 2026), and Third Team All-ECC (2024).
 
2026-27 ECC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Daemen - 79 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Mercy - 71 points (1 first-place vote)
3. D'Youville - 59 points (1 first-place vote)
4. District of Columbia - 45 points
5. Staten Island - 43 points
6. Queens - 33 points
7. St. Thomas Aquinas - 32 points
8. Molloy - 30 points
9. Roberts Wesleyan - 13 points
 
Player of the Year
Nkiru Awaka - Queens
 
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Founded as the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1989 and rechristened the East Coast Conference in July 2006, the ECC was formed to enhance intercollegiate athletic competition among member institutions and to assist them in integrating athletics into their academic program in a fiscally sound way. The ECC is committed to the highest standards of scholarship, sportsmanship, teamwork, and citizenship. Its mission is to promote the total person concept in its student-athletes, which stresses the abilities to excel in academic achievement, athletic competition, and positive character traits. East Coast Conference members include: Daemen University (Amherst, N.Y.); University of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.); D'Youville University (Buffalo, N.Y.); Mercy University (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.); Molloy University (Rockville Centre, N.Y.); Queens College (Flushing, N.Y.); Roberts Wesleyan University (Rochester, N.Y.); College of Staten Island (Staten Island, N.Y.); and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, N.Y.). The ECC also is home to 13 associate members in the sports of women’s bowling (3), men’s and women’s indoor track & field (3), men's volleyball (2), field hockey (1), and men’s lacrosse (1).

The ECC sponsors the following championship sports: baseball; men’s and women’s basketball; women's bowling; men’s and women’s cross country; field hockey; men’s and women’s lacrosse; men’s and women’s indoor track and field; men’s and women’s outdoor track and field; men’s and women’s soccer; softball; and men's and women’s volleyball.
 
The East Coast Conference is a proud member of the NCAA and Division II. Division II is a dynamic and engaging group of colleges, institutions and conferences of varying sizes and educational missions. Division II members encourage and support diversity; value sportsmanship, fairness and equity; and place the highest priority on the overall educational excellence of the student-athlete.