PRINCETON, N.J. - The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team was picked to finish first in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll, garnering 12 first place votes and 129 points as the preseason favorite to win the conference. The announcement was made on Wednesday morning prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.

Today's announcement marks the fifth straight year the Red and Blue have earned first-place votes in the preseason poll and the third time in four seasons they've been chosen for first place laurels. The Quakers tied with Princeton in the 2014-15 edition of the rankings, were picked second in 2015-16, and first in 2016-17. Votes came from two members of each school's media contingent in addition to one national voter.

Princeton, which was runner-up to Penn last year in both the regular season and conference tournament, was picked second with 120 total voting points. Harvard was picked third by the panel with 98 votes while Brown rounded out the top-4 members with 87 points. Yale (64), Cornell (48), Columbia (42), and Dartmouth (24) were picked to finish in the bottom half.

The 2017-18 season marks the second time the Ivy League will hold a postseason tournament in women's basketball. The top four teams in the regular-season standings will meet at The Palestra the weekend of March 10-11 to determine the Ancient Eight's NCAA Tournament bid.

The Red and Blue return 12 letterwinners, three starters, two All-Ivy honorees, and the Ivy League Player of the Year from a team that reached the postseason for the fifth-straight year. The Quakers were 22-8 last year, including 13-1 in Ivy play, and earned the Ivy League title and NCAA Tournament berth.

The Quakers kick off the 2017-18 season on Wednesday, Nov. 15 when they travel to Binghamton for a 7 p.m. tip.  

NOTES: The Ivy League women's basketball preseason poll was instituted in 1999-2000... Since then five teams have been unanimous selections to place first... This is the fourth time the Quakers have been selected to finish first; they previously accomplished the feat in 1999-00 (first year of the preseason poll), 2000-01, 2016-17, and 2017-18... Penn (2016-17), Princeton (2010-11), Dartmouth (2005-06), and Harvard (2002-03, 2003-04) have all swept first place votes in conference history.

2017-18 Ivy League Women's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
*First place votes in parenthesis
1.     Penn (12) 129
2.     Princeton (5) 120
3.     Harvard 98
4.     Brown 87
5.     Yale 64
6.     Cornell 48
7.     Columbia 42
8.     Dartmouth 24