Conference Carolinas

Limestone Voted Preseason Women’s Basketball Favorite

10/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Limestone returns a solid backcourt from last season’s team that reached the NCAA Tournament, including a trio of seniors that have surpassed 100 career three-pointers. Senior guard Maria Young (Asheville, N.C.), named First Team All-Conference and the Conference Carolinas Tournament Most Valuable Player a season ago, is poised to become in the team’s all-time leading scorer while senior guard Tia Williams (Dacula, Ga.), a two-time All-Conference selection, has impacted Limestone’s record book in virtually every offensive category.

Senior guard Stephanie Hayes (Hopkins, S.C.) will set the pace for the Saints at the point following a breakout junior campaign while the Saints will count on senior forwards Ashley Robinson (Whittier, N.C.) and Danielle Dixon (Henderson, Ky.) to battle down on the post in 2012-13. Junior center Bridget Ansbro (Huntersville, N.C.), sophomore forward Alicia Brookins (Auburn, Ga.), and sophomore guard Morgan Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) in addition to a number of key off-season additions will give Limestone one of the deepest benches in Conference Carolinas.

Barton College is coming off a 21-9 season where it seized the East Division Conference Carolinas title at 14-3. The Lady Bulldogs return one full-time starter in junior point guard Nyeshea Willie, who was league Freshman of the Year and followed that up All-Conference accolades last season. Janae Jackson, Elaine Morgan and Shante Neal also started a lot of games for Barton, which returns 13 players. Three new players have been added to the roster, including two transfers.

“How well we are able to get some team chemistry going will depend on people doing things they didn’t have to do last year,” said veteran head coach Wendee Sainting, who has led her team to four straight conference crowns and five of the last 10 NCAA DII Tournaments. “The sooner we understand our roles, the more successful we will be. Our league is very senior oriented this season, so I think it will be real competitive.”

Mount Olive College returns all five starters - including three players with eight or more rebounds per game - from last year’s squad, which came within one win of its fourth 20-win season in the last five years. The Trojans were 19-9 last year and finished second in the Conference Carolinas East Division with a 12-5 mark.

The Trojans bring back two-time All-Conference Carolinas senior guard Andrea Jones, who ranked among the conference scoring leaders with 15.3 points per game and 57 three-pointers. Jones reached double figures in 23 of 28 games. Senior and All-Conference Carolinas forward Tamara Nesmith came within two assists and two steals of recording the first quadruple-double in Trojan basketball history. She averaged 13.5 points per game and was among the conference leaders with 8.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals per contest.

Coker finished fourth in the poll with North Greenville fifth followed by Pfeiffer, Queens, Belmont Abbey, Erskine, King, Lees-McRae, and Converse respectively rounding-out the poll standings.

Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Pre-Season Poll   

(# of First Place Votes in Parenthesis)                 

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.