Scranton returns four starters from last year's Final Four team and nearly 90% of its scoring, vaulting the Royals to the top of the 2006-07 preseason D3hoops.com Top 25 for women's basketball.

It's the eighth season of the D3hoops.com Top 25.

Scranton, which finished 31-2 last season, got 15 first-place votes after finishing last season in the No. 3 spot. Bowdoin follows at No. 2, with one first-place vote. DePauw is third with two first-place votes, while Hope, the defending national champion, is fourth, with seven first-place votes.

The second, third and fourth teams in the poll are separated by a total of four points but are nearly 80 points out of first place.

Bowdoin returns four starters as well, but must replace lockdown defender Justine Pouravelis. The Polar Bears are the only Division III women's team to reach the Elite Eight each of the past five seasons and have won 70 consecutive home games. DePauw, also an Elite Eight team in 2006, returns four starters, including forward Liz Bondi (16.7 points, 7.0 rebounds per game). Hope lost two starters, including All-American guard Bria Ebels.