BOSTON, Mass. (October 16, 2025) – Emerson College has been picked to finish third in the upcoming New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) by the Conference coaches in its preseason poll announced today by the league office.

Bri Frongillo, the reigning NEWMAC Athlete of the Year, returns for her senior season for the Lions.

Emerson is picked behind five-time defending NEWMAC champion and two-time NCAA Division III runners-up Smith College who is picked first with 11 of 12 first place votes and Babson College who received the remaining first place vote and is picked second by the NEWMAC's 12 head coaches. Springfield College has been picked fourth, MIT and Coast Guard are tied for fifth in the poll, with WPI seventh, Salve Regina University eighth, Clark University ninth, Wheaton College tenth, Wellesley College 11^th and Mount Holyoke College 12^th.

Emerson head coach Bill Gould, whose coaching staff garnered NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors last winter, heads into his 19^th season at the helm of the Lions returning 11 letterwinners and four starters from his 2024-25 team that finished 16-10 overall, including 7-4 in NEWMAC play to finish in a four-way tie for third in the Conference with Salve Regina, Springfield and MIT. The Lions returned to the NEWMAC tournament for the first time since 2022 and was edged by Salve Regina 93-87 in the quarterfinal round.

Senior Bri Frongillo, a WBCA Division III honorable mention All-American and reigning NEWMAC Athlete of the Year, headlines the Emerson returnees for Gould after averaging a Conference-best 22.5 points and 5.2 assists per game, while shooting 42.9-percent from the floor and NEWMAC-best 86.5% from the free-throw line, adding 4.8 rebounds in 36.8 minutes per game.

Junior Claire English returns for Emerson after ranking among NEWMAC leaders with 3.2 assists (6^th), 8.2 rebounds (4^th) and 1.6 blocked shots (4^th) per game, while also contributing 7.7 points on 54.8-percent shooting. Sophomores Kendra Dodd and Jessie Silk round out the returning starters for the Lions. Silk, one of the top three-point shooters in the NEWMAC at 40.7-percent (3^rd NEWMAC) last winter, ranked third among NEWMAC assist leaders with 3.6 per game, while also chipping in 10.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. Dodd also averaged double-figures in scoring with 10.0 points per game, connecting on 38.1% of her three-pointers (6^th).

Emerson opens its 2025-26 season with two-straight home games, starting on Saturday, November 8, against Baruch College on Hank Smith Court at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium at 1 p.m. The Lions host Endicott College two days later on Boylston Street on November 10 at 7 p.m. Emerson will open NEWMAC play on Saturday, January 17, with a NEWMAC quarterfinal rematch against Salve Regina on Smith Court at 1 p.m.

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