PITMAN, N.J. — The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) released its 2022-23 preseason women's basketball poll today, Tuesday, Nov. 8. The two-time reigning champion New Jersey City University women's basketball team received a total of four of the 10 first place votes and was picked to finish first out of 10 teams.

NJCU continued its meteoric rise to the top of the conference last season by winning the first-ever women's NJAC Basketball Title on Coach Charlie Brown Court at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center (JMAC) in 2021-22. The Gothic Knights proceeded to compete in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship for the first time in program history. This year, the squad returns 11 players from last year's roster and — led by 2022-23 Preseason D3Hoops.com All-America selection and two-time First Team All-NJAC honoree junior guard Damaris Rodriguez (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) — the Gothic Knights look to make it three in a row.

See below for the full preseason NJAC Poll:

1. New Jersey City University (4 first-place votes)
2. Rowan University (1)
3. Montclair State University (1)
4. Kean University (3)
5. The College of New Jersey (1)
6. William Paterson University (dark horse)
7. Stockton University
8. Ramapo College
9. Rutgers-Newark
10. Rutgers-Camden

Other key returners to fifth-year head coach Pat Devaney, Sr.'s squad include Second Team All-NJAC guard senior Laney Fox (Parkland, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons), senior guard Jada Camacho (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), front court players sophomore Liyah Allen (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) and junior Jimmirah Johnson (Prospect Park, N.J./International) and more. Fox and Camacho both averaged double-figures scoring alongside Rodriguez in 2021-22 and each averaged an identical 6.8 rebounds/game. Allen and Johnson formed one of the most formidably-sized front courts in all of Division III last season, as Allen averaged a 9.2 points and 7.3 rebounds a game, while Johnson averaged 7.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

Up Next:
Jersey City had a successful scrimmage last weekend against Division I Saint Peter's University in the Battle of the Boulevard and kicks off 2022-23 regular-season play against another Division I foe in Monmouth University. The Gothic Knights head down to West Long Branch, N.J., for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against the Hawks. The game will be televised live on SNY.