The Midwest Conference released its 2019-20 Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll on Friday and Lake Forest College was tied-for-third in the standings.
Voting is done by the MWC head women's basketball coaches. Each coach votes for the other nine schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (nine points for first, eight for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
With 77 points and six first-place votes, Monmouth College finished atop the rankings, eight points ahead of Ripon College, who were listed first on three ballots. The final top vote went to St. Norbert College, who was tied with Lake Forest with 64 points. Cornell College rounded out the top five with 43.
The Foresters return a pair of starters in two-time First Team All-MWC guard Kelsey Burton and backcourt mate Zaria Sydnor. Burton finished in the top eight in the league with 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. Lake Forest finished the 2018-19 campaign 13-13 overall and in third place in the MWC standings with a league record of 12-6. The Foresters also qualified for the four-team MWC Tournament for the second year in a row.
Lake Forest will open the 2019-20 season on Friday, November 8, at Milwaukee School of Engineering. Conference play will start December 4 at St. Norbert and the team will play 18 league games. The MWC Tournament will be hosted by the league champion February 28-29.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Monmouth College (6) | 77 |
| 2 | Ripon College (3) | 69 |
| 3t | St. Norbert College (1) | 64 |
| 3t | Lake Forest College | 64 |
| 5 | Cornell College | 43 |
| 6 | Knox College | 40 |
| 7 | Grinnell College | 32 |
| 8 | Illinois College | 29 |
| 9 | Lawrence University | 19 |
| 10 | Beloit College | 13 |