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2012 OAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll

The Capital University women's basketball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference by the league's coaches as the conference announced its preseason poll on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

The Crusaders earned 58 points, four behind third-place Baldwin Wallace and seven ahead of local rival Otterbein. Mount Union, the 2011-12 champion, was predicted to repeat this season, earning seven of the 10 first-place votes and 79 points overall. Ohio Northern garnered 73 points and two first-place tallies.

Capital enters the 2012-13 season with high hopes after a strong 18-9 campaign last season, when it defeated perennial regional powers Hope (Mich.) and Thomas More (Ky.) and posted a 12-6 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The team reached the OAC Tournament semifinals for the ninth consecutive season.

The Crusaders will be bolstered this season by a 10-day tour of Italy last June and the return of 27th-year head coach Dixie Jeffers, who last January became the seventh coach in NCAA Division III history to reach 600 career wins.

The inside-outside combination of senior forward Stacy Timmerman and junior guard Cookie Geroski headline a strong group of returners, which includes nine letter winners and three starters from 2011-12. Timmerman (New Bremen, Ohio) is the team's leading scorer coming back after averaging 9.8 points to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 46.9 percent shooting from the field. Geroski (Fostoria, Ohio) tallied 8.2 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 35.2 percent from 3-point range and posting a team-best 96 assists.

Senior guard Rebekah Will (Millbury, Ohio) is the team's third returning starter, registering 8.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game with 68 assists and a team-high 56 steals. Junior forward Jamie Caton (Hilliard, Ohio) was the team's first player off the bench a year ago, totaling 9.6 points per game along with a team-high 82 made free throws.

Other returning contributors include junior guard Katie Bolig (Cincinnati, Ohio), sophomore guards Shelby Sheets (Fayetteville, Ohio), Erin Maldonado (Cleveland, Ohio) and sophomore forward Monica Heckman (Pitsburg, Ohio). Sophomore Cassie Prenger (Versailles, Ohio) returns this season after being sidelined by a knee injury a year ago.

Capital begins its season with two games at Anderson (Ind.) on Nov. 16-17. The Crusaders play their first contest at the Capital Center on Nov. 28 against Ohio Wesleyan.