LONG BEACH, Calif. -- With the winter sports closing in on the opening of their seasons, the Pacific West Conference has released the first of the basketball preseason polls, with women's basketball up first.  The Vanguard Lions have been deemed the team to beat in 2026-27, as the defending champions have netted eight of the 10 first-place votes and 98 points to stand atop the ranking for the second year in a row.  The Lions topped Point Loma by 15 points, with Westmont in third with 82 points and one first-place tally.  Dominican had one first-place vote in sixth (58 points).  The Blue and Gold lived up to the expectation in 2025-26 by winning the regular season and tournament trophies in the PacWest and beat CSULA in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Central Washington. 

 The Blue and Gold are not at home to begin the season, as they take on Montana State-Billings and Simon Fraser at MSUB on November 13-14 in Montana.  The Lions open at home on November 20 against Northwest Nazarene, with a rematch against CWU the next day.