UCCS basketball teams near the bottom of polls

The Colorado-Colorado Springs men’s and women’s basketball teams were picked to finish near the bottom of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in preseason polls released Wednesday.

The UCCS men (10-18, 10-9 last season) were chosen ninth out of 14 teams and fifth out of the seven teams in the East Division.

The Mountain Lion women (8-19, 6-13) were picked 12th overall and seventh in the East.

Fort Lewis’ Allison Rosel, a Doherty graduate, was named the Preseason Player of the Year.

Colorado School of Mines received the most votes in the women’s East Division, and Fort Lewis was picked to finish first in the conference. The Metro State men topped the East Division and New Mexico Highlands was chosen to win the league.

The UCCS men play exhibition games at Weber State and Idaho State on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, before kicking off the season Nov. 20  at home against Colorado College.

The UCCS women play an exhibition game at Air Force on Nov. 6 before starting the season Nov. 15 at Montana State-Billings.

UCCS volleyball
At Lions’ Den: Jenica Shippy had 11 kills to lead the Mountain Lions to a school record ninth straight win Tuesday. UCCS (17-7, 12-4 RMAC) beat Colorado Christian 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-17).