CLEVELAND, OH – Defending North Coast Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Champion Denison placed first in the 2026-27 NCAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, as voted by league coaches.

The Big Red earned all eight first-place votes and led the projections with 64 points. Ohio Wesleyan was next up with 51 points, followed closely by DePauw (49), as the Tigers look to extend their streak of three consecutive NCAC  Tournament Championships. John Carroll (39) and Wittenberg (35) rounded out the projected top five, while Wooster (24) placed sixth and Kenyon and Oberlin tied for seventh with 13 points apiece to complete the poll.

Led by reigning D3hoops.com Region 7 Coach of the Year Maureen Hirt and assistant coaches Erin Kumler, Griffin Tullis, and Olivia Johnson, the Denison Big Red head into 2026-27 after posting a 30-2 record that included a league-leading 13-1 mark in NCAC play. Offensively, Denison led the league in points per game (75.2), scoring margin (19.3), and assists per game (15.03). On the glass, the Big Red finished first in total (46.0), offensive (17.1), and defensive (28.9) rebounds per game while also leading in rebounding margin (8.4). Defensively, Denison was tops in blocks (5.13) and steals (11.97) per game and held opponents to conference-lows in overall (.340) and three-point (.250) field goal percentage.

The Big Red return three All-NCAC honorees and the NCAC Newcomer of the Year. Senior guards Abby Cooch (Clifton, VA/Bishop Ireton) and Ada Taute (Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius College Prep) earned All-NCAC First Team honors, while junior post Anelly Mad-toingué (Wellesley, MA/Dana Hall) secured a third-team spot and sophomore guard Molly Dorighi (Cherry Hills Village, CO/Cherry Creek) was named the league’s top newcomer. Taute (13.9 points per game) and Cooch (13.4) led Denison in per-game scoring and ranked sixth and eighth in the NCAC, respectively. Cooch led the league in free-throw percentage (.838) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) while ranking second in assists per game (3.9) and tied for seventh in threes per game (1.7). Taute was second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6), tied for fourth in assists (3.2), and was fifth in both rebounds (6.8) and steals (2.2) per game. Mad-toingué was the conference’s top shot blocker at 2.8 per game, and her 10.3 rebounds per contest ranked second while her .510 field goal percentage was third. Dorighi tied for seventh with 1.8  steals-per-game and averaged 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. 

The 2026-27 season gets underway on Friday, November 6, while the first NCAC clash is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2 when Oberlin hosts Wittenberg, Wooster heads to Ohio Wesleyan, and DePauw welcomes Denison. The NCAC Tournament is set for February, with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, February 23, semifinals on Friday, February 26, and the tournament final on Saturday, February 27.