Key personnel losses are not expected to stand in the way of conference titles in the 2003-2004 women's basketball season as Western Michigan was selected to win the Mid-American Conference West Division and Kent State was picked to nab the East Division by members of the MAC News Media Association at MAC Media Day, Wednesday.
Defending conference champion Western Michigan returns three starters, including All-MAC player Casey Rost and MAC Defensive Player of the Year Maria Jilian. However, the Broncos will be without arguably the conference's best player, Kristin Koetsier, who has decided to finish her playing career, though she has one year of eligibility remaining.
Kent State will feature just 8.8 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game from last year's starting lineup as sophomore Lindsay Shearer is the lone starter returning. The Golden Flashes will be reunited on the floor with center Andrea Csaszar, who missed all of last season with an injury. Csaszar earned MVP honors in the 2001-2002 MAC tournament.
Toledo and Ball State completed the second and third place projected positions in the West Division, respectively. Miami and Marshall rounded out the East Division's top three.
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T.J. Lasita
