Newberry Picked as SAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Favorite

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The SAC's women's basketball coaches have tabbed Newberry as the favorite to win the 2013-14 conference title in their annual preseason poll, it was announced on Thursday.

Newberry – which received five first-place votes in the preseason poll - is coming off a fourth-place finish in the SAC standings in 2012-13 after going 20-10 overall and 11-7 in the conference. The Wolves also reached the semifinal round of the 2013 Food Lion SAC Basketball Championship.

Among Newberry's returnees is 2012-13 All-American center Haylee Lepaio, who averaged a SAC-best 18.1 points per game in addition to nine rebounds per game last season. Lepaio has been named a preseason All-American by DII Bulletin heading into 2013-14.

Lenoir-Rhyne is second in the SAC preseason poll and received four first-place votes. The Bears went 19-10 overall and finished second in the league standings at 13-5 in 2012-13. L-R reached the SAC Championship semifinals and also earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament last season.

Earlier this month, L-R was ranked 23rd in the DII Bulletin preseason poll.

Coming in at No. 3 in the SAC preseason poll is Wingate, followed by Catawba at No. 4. Wingate received two first-place votes, while Catawba got one. The Bulldogs finished tied for eighth in last year's conference standings at 7-11, while the Indians were third at 12-6.

Carson-Newman is fifth in the poll, followed by Lincoln Memorial at No. 6, Tusculum at No. 7 and defending SAC regular-season champion, SAC Tournament champion and NCAA Tournament selection Anderson at No. 8.

Carson-Newman finished fifth in the SAC last year at 9-9 in the league, LMU tied for eighth at 7-11, Tusculum finished sixth at 8-10 and Anderson won its first-ever conference title after going 14-4.

Rounding out the poll are SAC-newcomers Coker at No. 9 and Queens at No. 10, Brevard at No. 11 and Mars Hill at No. 12.

Coker finished fourth and Queens tied for fifth in their respective Conference Carolinas divisions last season, while Brevard was ninth at 5-13 and Mars Hill 10th at 4-14 in the SAC.

The preseason All-SAC Team was also revealed on Thursday and features a pair of first-team selections from Newberry and Catawba. Newberry is represented on the First Team by Lepaio and guard Samantha Creed, while forward Chloe Bully and center Antionette McPhail earned spots from Catawba.

Creed was third in the conference last season in scoring at 15.6 points per game, Bully was fifth at 14.6 points per game, and McPhail was third in rebounding at 8.4 per game.

Completing the preseason First Team are Lenoir-Rhyne guard Jazmine Charles and Wingate forward Chantal Dunbar. Charles finished in the league's top 10 in both three-point shooting and free throw shooting, while Dunbar was its top rebounder at 10.1 per game.

Lepaio, Creed, Charles, Bully and McPhail were members of the 2012-13 All-SAC First Team, while Dunbar was a second-team pick.

Reigning SAC Freshman of the Year Tuccoa Brackett of Brevard and fellow 2012-13 All-SAC selection Janitsha Williams of Wingate headline the preseason All-Conference Second Team. They are joined by Queens forward Shonice Pettaway, Carson-Newman guard Tatum Burstrom, Lincoln Memorial guard MaRanda Boddie, LMU guard Kalasia Green and Mars Hill guard Ansley Ricker.

2013-14 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

2013-14 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team

First Team

Second Team

* Tied for final second-team selection