College basketball preview: Division II women's teams, players to watch

DII teams to watch

IUP: A Final Four team that won 30 games last season, the Crimson Hawks are ranked No. 9 in the preseason WBCA poll. … Must make up for loss of three top scorers, including Greensburg Central Catholic product Carolyn Appleby. … Starters Lexi Griggs (10.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Natalie Myers (7.2, 5.7) return.

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Cal (Pa.): Won 26 games and advanced to NCAA Tournament. … Must replace one of its all-time best players in Seairra Barrett. … Starters Gina Vallecorsa (Bishop Canevin) and Bianca Jasper return.

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Pitt-Johnstown: Made PSAC tournament for first time in five years last season. … Returns most starters (four) among top-four teams in conference’s preseason poll. … Mountain Cats were picked to finish fourth in PSAC West.

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DII players to watch

Michaela Barnes, sr., G, Edinboro: Averaged 21.0 points, fourth in conference last season, and 4.3 rebounds. … Named preseason honorable mention All-American by Women’s Division II Bulletin.

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Monica Burns, grad transfer, G, Cal (Pa.): After sitting out 2018-19, all-time leading scorer at Hempfield returns for her final season of eligibility. … Played three seasons at Wheeling, where she scored more than 1,000 career points and led the nation in free-throw percentage (.946) in 2016-17.

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Gabrielle Smith, sr., G/F, Pitt-Johnstown: The Quigley Catholic product was among

PSAC leaders in scoring (19.4). … At 6-feet, she also is a force in the paint, gathering 7.1 rebounds and blocking 1.2 shots per game last season.

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Did you know …

Cleve Wright is back for his second stint as Gannon’s coach. During his first tenure (2002-13), Golden Knights played in five NCAA Tournaments and were a Final Four team in 2010.