AMERICUS, Ga. - The Peach Belt Conference released the 2016-17 women's basketball preseason coaches poll Thursday morning and Georgia Southwestern is picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams. The Lady Hurricanes received one vote for seventh, five for tenth, two for 11th, two for 12th and three for 13th.
Head coach Kelly Britsky enters her tenth season at the helm for GSW and welcomes back seven player from last year's squad that posted a 13-13 record. The Lady Hurricanes lost three of their top four scorers but return three of their top four rebounders.
Returners include Kwante'sha Love (played in all 26 games and had .5 ppg, 1.7 rpg), Va'Queshia Hall (played in 25 games, started nine and had 8.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg), Aleah Holden (played in all 26 games, started 16 and had 6.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg), Chanice Whitton (played in 24 games, started nine and had 5.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Whitney Young (played in all 26 games, started four and had 2.6 ppg, 1.1 rpg), Kris Beckham (played in 25 games, started one and had 2.5 ppg, 0.7 rpg) and Khayla Owens (played in all 26 games, started ten and had 3.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg).
Even with seven strong returners, Southwestern will look to six new players on the roster to contribute. Britsky's recruiting class included five transfers: Shanya Jones (Broward College), Adrianne Brown (Southeastern Illinois College), Gabby Figgers (Cloud County Community College), Brittany Grant (College of Central Florida) and Mallory Diamond (L.B. Wallace Community College).
The Lady 'Canes also welcome one freshmen to the roster; Kya Cochran (Kathleen, Ga.).
The Lady Hurricanes open the regular season against Auburn Montgomery at home Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m.
The 2016-17 preseason coaches poll is below. Teams were given 13 points for a first-place vote, 12 for a second and so on. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams.
Nomination
|
Score |
1st(13) |
2nd(12) |
3rd(11) |
4th(10) |
5th(9) |
6th(8) |
7th(7) |
8th(6) |
9th(5) |
10th(4) |
11th(3) |
12th(2) |
13th(1) |
|
|
|
Lander |
152 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Francis Marion |
149 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Augusta State |
141 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Columbus State |
132 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Clayton State |
116 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
North Georgia |
107 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
Armstrong State |
93 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Georgia College |
83 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Young Harris |
71 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
USC Aiken |
66 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
Flagler |
55 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
UNC Pembroke |
48 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
Georgia Southwestern |
40 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
Montevallo |
21 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
|
|
Total Voters |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
||