COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference on Thursday, Oct. 15 released its 2026-27 Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll, slotting Western Colorado into the No. 11 spot with a total of 71 voting points.

Reigning RMAC regular season and conference tournament champion Colorado Mesa leads the poll with 192 points and 11 of 15 first-place votes, well ahead of No. 2 MSU Denver's 166 points and 1 first-place vote.

The Mountaineers are coming off back-to-back appearances in the RMAC postseason tournament, falling one win shy of tying the program record (22) for wins in the 2024-25 season and posting a 16-11 overall record and a 14-6 conference mark in 2025-26.

Western was one of the top scoring defenses last season allowing just 62.9 PPG, fourth lowest in the RMAC, while leading the league in 3-point FG percentage (.360). However, the team must replace its top two long-distance threats heading into the 2026-27 campaign.

Third and fourth on the team in scoring last season, senior Alyssa Eckroth (12.9) and junior Penelope Urquhart (5.7) return and aim to take on larger roles in the offensive end of the court. At the other end, Urquhart was second on the team in defensive rebounds (135) while Eckroth (70) was fifth on the team.

The Mountaineers enter the 2026-27 season with a new head coach in K.C. Bassett, who arrived at Western after one season as an assistant at the University of Nebraska Kearney following 11 successful seasons as the head coach of Sterling (Kan.) College where she compiled a 231-115 career record, winning three Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) regular-season titles and three KCAC tournament crowns. Bassett is assisted by Kenedee Winfrey, who played four seasons at UNLV before closing out her playing career with her hometown team, West Texas A&M.