Coker Voted as Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite; Preseason All-Conference and Players to Watch Announced

ROCK HILL, S.C. (theSAC.com) – After claiming the first SAC Regular Season Championship in program history last year, the Coker Cobras have been voted as the preseason favorite in the 2025-26 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll. The league also announced its Preseason All-Conference Team along with Players to Watch.

Prior to last year, Coker had never won more than 11 games or finished above 7^th in the SAC standings. However, the Cobras made a huge jump a season ago and finished 20-4 in the SAC and advanced all the way to the NCAA Elite Eight. The Southeast Regional Champions return Shawnteeana Tillman, last year's SAC Player of the Year, which earned her Preseason All-Conference accolades.

Carson-Newman was predicted to finish second in the conference and earned a pair of first place votes. The Eagles are paced by the 2024-25 SAC Newcomer of the Year in Jennifer Sullivan who also grabbed a spot on the Preseason All-Conference team. Mike Mincey's squad will be chasing a ninth SAC Regular Season crown and a 13^th trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Wingate came in third in the coaches' poll with 107 points and tied for third in the SAC standings a season ago with a 17-7 mark. Preseason All-Conference honoree Laney Beale returns for the Bulldogs after she had the fifth-most assists in the conference with 96 last year.

The Anderson Trojans received the remaining first place vote but came just one point shy of Wingate with 106. The 2025 SAC Tournament Champions went 24-10 last year, the third time in the last four years that they have posted 20+ wins. The Trojans' Rose Gravel is back after a rookie campaign that earned her SAC Freshman of the Year honors.

Lenoir-Rhyne came in fifth in the poll with 89 points as head coach Emry Tsitouris enters her first season in Hickory after a highly successful run at Mars Hill. Aaliyah El earned a Preseason All-Conference selection after her 2024-25 season at Mars Hill saw her finish fourth in the league in scoring at 17.7 points per game.

Catawba slots in at No. 6 in the voting with 85 points. The Catawba Indians won the league regular season title in 2023 and 2024 and head coach Terence McCutcheon was named the SAC Coach of the Year each of those two seasons.

Lincoln Memorial comes in at seventh in the poll, led by Preseason All-Conference selection Alexa Smiddy who was one of the most prolific shooters in the league with her 68 made 3-pointers. Smiddy is joined on the Preseason All-Conference team by Kamil Collier making the Railsplitters the only team with two players on the list.

UVA Wise earned 58 points to be voted in eighth, ahead of Newberry who garnered 45 points. Tusculum was voted 10^th with Emory & Henry and Mars Hill rounding out the voting.  

Teams get a maximum of two players total between the Preseason All-Conference Team and Players to Watch which is listed below.

The season tips off on Friday, November 14 with the regular season leading to Rock Hill, S.C. where the top eight teams will compete in the league tournament at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center on March 4-7.

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2025-26 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll

2025-26 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference

Shawnteanna Tillman, Coker
Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman
Aaliyah El, Lenoir-Rhyne
Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial
Breanna Yarber, Emory & Henry
Kamil Collier, Lincoln Memorial
Laney Beale, Wingate

2025-26 SAC Women's Basketball Players to Watch

Anderson: Rose Gravel, Ashlyn Sheridan
Carson-Newman: Emily Gonzalez
Catawba: Mary Spry, Bailee Goodlett
Coker: Kamari Thompson
Emory & Henry: Gracyn Hall
Lenoir-Rhyne: Lauren Arnold
Mars Hill: Jadyiah Peoples, Makayla Street
Newberry: Mary-Kate Kent, Rickell Brown
Tusculum: Abbi Douglas, Josie Horner
UVA Wise: Caroline Mullins, Madison Looney
Wingate: Kyleigh Bacon