Niagara was picked to finish second and Canisius was tabbed for seventh by the coaches in

the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason men's basketball poll. Also, Niagara's Bilal

Benn and Tyrone Lewis were named to the preseason first-team all-league team, while Canisius'

Frank Turner and Greg Logins were named to the third team. Siena was the choice to win its

third consecutive league title. The Saints received nine of 10 first-place votes and 99 points

overall. Niagara received 87 points and Rider 82 and the only other first-place vote. Rider is

followed by Fairfield (67), Loyola (45), Saint Peter's (45), Canisius (43), Manhattan (40),

Iona (30) and Marist (12).

Benn and Lewis are joined on the first team by Rider's Ryan Thompson, who was voted the

league's preseason player of the year, and Siena's Ronald Moore and Edwin Ubiles.

Women's basketball

MAAC coaches selected senior guard Brittane Russell of Canisius to its first team

preseason all-conference team. Ellie Radke of the Griffs was a second-team choice while

Micayla Drysdale was named to the third team as was junior forward Liz Flooks of Niagara.

Canisius was selected to finish third in the preseason coaches poll, earning 75 points.

Defending champion Marist was a unanimous selection (100 points) to finish first followed by

Iona (90). Niagara was picked last in the 10-team conference.

Full Court Press, a women's basketball journal, named Dana Mitchell of St. Bonaventure for

honorable mention to its Preseason Mid-Major team. Last week Mitchell was named to the A-10

preseason first team.

Women's soccer

Medaille wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate conference

tournament with a 4-0 win at Pitt-Bradford. The Mavericks had 29 shots, 15 on the goal as

Katie Scheible (Springville), Katie Bush (Jamestown), Megan Bagley (Mount St. Mary) and

Chelsea Buzyniski (Newfane) tallied. The same two teams will meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday in

the first round of the tournament at All High Stadium.

Field hockey

Stonehill senior Claire Hourihan (Williamsville North) was selected as the Northeast-10

Player of the Week for the third time this season. Hourihan led Stonehill to the NE-10 regular-

season title and scored the lone goal in a 1-0 triumph over eighth-ranked Merrimack to clinch

the top seed in the upcoming NE-10 Tournament.

She has matched her own single-season school record with 20 goals to go with three assists

for 43 points — five shy of her single-season record set last year. She leads the NE-10

with 10 game-winning goals, while ranking second in the conference in goals and points.