Barton Voted Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll Favorite
Barton Voted Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll Favorite
High Point, NC> The Barton College women's
basketball team received the most points to earn the top spot in
this year’s Conference Carolinas Preseason Coaches’
Poll. Each school’s head coach ranks teams from top to
bottom for the entire league and this year’s poll had two
different teams receiving first place votes. Barton collected
eight first-place votes ahead of Limestone with four who finished
second in the poll. Mount Olive rounded out the top tier with a
third place finish as voted on by league coaches.
After concluding a banner year last season that featured winning
the Conference Carolinas regular season title, the 2011 Conference
Carolinas Tournament and advancing to the second round of the NCAA
Division II National Tournament, the Barton College women’s
basketball team will be a target of excellence from all opposition
throughout their Eastern Division, the entire league, and in the
Southeast Region. The three-time reigning league champions
wrapped up last season with a program-best 26-5 record after losing
its last game to the eventual national champions Clayton State
University. BC boasted an 18-2 record in league play.
The Lady Bulldogs are guided by 23rd year head coach Wendee
Saintsing, who is the two-time reigning Conference Carolinas Coach
of the Year. Saintsing returns a deep class of 12 letter winners
featuring Second Team All-Conference/Freshman of the Year/
Tournament MVP Nyeshea Willie and Third Team
All-Conference/Southeast Regional All-Tournament Team award winner
Jannetta Robinson. Janae Jackson and Jolanda Mitchell also started
in majority of last year’s games.
Coach Saintsing added five talented newcomers that all have a
chance to crack the lineup and will be looking for one Lady Bulldog
to step into the point guard position vacated by All-Region and
First Team All-Conference honoree Jamila Johnson, who led the
conference in assists and her team in scoring last year during her
final senior season.
Following a record-shattering season, Limestone
College has been voted to finish second in this
year’s coaches poll and, in turn, are favored to win the
inaugural Western Division title. The Saints return all five
starters from a 2010-11 team that finished 19-9 overall and 14-6 in
the conference. The 19 wins set a program record for most wins as
an NCAA Division II member and is the second highest win total in
school history.
Maria Young, the team’s leading scorer over the past two
seasons, returns following a First-Team All-Conference selection
last year and is primed to become the 10th player in
school history to break the 1,000-point plateau in only her junior
season. Young set Limestone’s single season record during the
2010-11 campaign with 80 three-pointers while her 526 points last
year ranks fifth all-time in LC’s 30-year history.
Joining Young will be Second-Team All-Conference selection Tia
Williams, who started all 28 games a season ago, along with senior
starters Lauren Pace and Kaileigh West. In her final season, Pace
is on target to break the school’s all-time assists record
while West pulled down an impressive 207 rebounds during 2010-11.
Stephanie Hayes and swat-master Ashley Robinson will join a solid
group of freshman and junior talent, giving the Saints one of their
deepest benches in recent memory.
Mount Olive College may be in rebuilding mode
in 2011-12 after graduating four starters, including the conference
player of the year, from last year’s Conference Carolinas
regular season and tournament runner-up. The Trojans do return
All-Conference Carolinas forward/guard Andrea Jones, who ranked
seventh in the conference in scoring with 14.7 points per game.
Also returning are forward Alyssa Luebs and point guard Destinee
Webb, both of whom have seen time in the starting lineup during
their first two years at Mount Olive.
Mount Olive posted a 21-8 record last year, the Trojans’
third 20-win season in the last four years to finish second in the
regular season standings. The Trojans won the 2008 Conference
Carolinas Tournament and were runners-up in the 2009 & 2010
tournament championships.
Rounding out the lady's poll 4-12 was: Pfeiffer, Belmont
Abbey & Queens (tied), Erskine, King &
North Greenville (tied), Coker,
Lees-McRae, and Converse
respectively.
Women's
Basketball Preseason Poll (# of
First place votes in parenthesis)
1.
Barton
College
(8)
117
2.
Limestone
College
(4)
111
3.
Mount Olive
College
99
4.
Pfeiffer University
86
T-5. Belmont Abbey
79
T-5. Queens University
of Charlotte
79
7.
Erskine
College
49
T-8. King
College
46
T-8. North Greenville
University
46
10. Coker
College
30
11.
Lees-McRae
College
29
12.
Converse
21
Women's
Basketball Preseason Poll – Breakdown by
Division
EASTERN
Division
WESTERN Division
1.
Barton
1.
Limestone
2.
Mount
Olive
2. Belmont Abbey
3.
Pfeiffer
3. Erskine
4.
Queens
T-4. King
5.
Coker
T-4. North Greenville
6. Lees-McRae
7. Converse
This year is the first year where divisional play will be used
in Conference Carolinas. Divisions are divided into Eastern
and Western sides with a regular season champion being awarded to
each division winner. In women’s basketball, with seven teams
representing the Western Division, there will be five tournament
representatives. The Eastern Division will have three
representatives from five eligible teams.
For tournament championship play, each division winner will
receive a No. 1 tournament seed (No. 1A and No. 1B will be
determined based on higher overall conference winning
percentage). From there the No.1A seed will play the Western
No.5 with the No.1B seed playing the Western No. 4. Eastern
No. 2 will always play Western No. 3 with Western No.2 always
playing Eastern No.3 in the opening round. Link to full details at:
2011-12
WBB Championship Bracket.
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletic
conference currently made up of 12 teams from North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton
College, Belmont Abbey College, Coker College, Converse College,
Erskine College, King College, Lees-McRae College, Limestone
College, Mount Olive College, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer
University, and Queens University of Charlotte.
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