PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville women's basketball team is selected to finish fourth in the 2026-27 WIAC Preseason Poll which was released on Friday afternoon by the conference office.

UW-Oshkosh, who enters the season ranked No. 4 on the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, is picked to claim the regular season title. UW-La Crosse, the reigning WIAC Tournament Champion, is selected second and is No. 12 on the D3hoops.com poll. Rounding out the top three is UW-Whitewater.

Following UW-Platteville in the WIAC poll is UW-River Falls, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point, and UW-Stout Polytechnic.

The Pioneers went 18-9 in 2025-26 and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Eighth-year head coach Kelly McNiff will guide a roster that sees a lot of turnover, but 13 letterwinners and a pair of starters return.

Senior center Tatum Weir and junior guard Ava Hanson both started all 27 games last season for the Pioneers and provide the most experience in the lineup. Weir was fourth on the team in scoring a season ago, averaging 7.0 points while grabbing 3.9 rebounds per game. Hanson is a strong defender and added 4.5 points and 3.1 boards per contest.

Junior guard Caitlyn Strom and junior forward Grace Groezinger will step into bigger roles after seeing consistent minutes off the bench last season. Strom averaged 4.5 points across 14.3 minutes per game while shooting 38.9 percent from three-point range. Groezinger saw 13.8 minutes per game while scoring 3.9 points and adding 11 blocks.

UW-Platteville travels to Holland, Michigan for the Hope College Kick-Off Classic to begin the season on Friday, November 6. The 2026-27 home opener takes place on Friday, November 20 in the opening game of the Marc Heidorf Memorial Classic.