FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Ohio Valley Conference released its first-ever Preseason Women's Basketball Media Poll on Friday as the Gamecocks were picked fourth in the poll conducted by media members that cover the OVC.
Jax State, who is coming off a 14-18 season and a run to the OVC Tournament semifinals a season ago, will look to be a contender in the race for the OVC Championship. JSU accumulated 155 total points and also received a first-place vote. Belmont, who knocked off the Gamecocks in the semifinals in Nashville, Tennessee last season, was selected as the favorite in the league. The Bruins edged out four-time OVC Tournament Champion, UT Martin by six points. BU tallied nine first-place votes, while the Skyhawks claimed six first-place votes.
The Colonels claimed the third spot in the 12-team poll with 208 points and four first-place votes.
Eastern Illinois senior forward Sabina Oroszova was picked the OVC Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year. The OVC will release its preseason poll and All-OVC team, as voted on by league head coaches and sports information directors, on Tuesday, Oct. 21 during the league's annual Media Day in Nashville.
Rick Pietri was named the league's top coach last season after guiding the program to an 8-8 conference mark in his first season. He will have a veteran team that will be led by the senior class of
Candace Morton,
LeCresha Horton,
Bria'unna Buckner and
Miranda Cantrell. Morton will look to cap off her JSU career on a high note after coming off a stellar junior season. The Lexington, Ky.-native was named Second Team All-OVC after leading the Gamecocks in scoring at 16.6 points per game. She reached double figures in the scoring column in all but three games last season. Cantrell, one of the top post players in the league entering the season, nearly averaged a double-double on the season with 9.9 points per game a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game.
Rising junior
Destany McLin may have been JSU's most improved player from her freshman season to her sophomore campaign. After averaging 5.5 points per game, the Athens, Ala.-native boosted that average to over 14 points a game and scored 31 points in the regular season finale against Belmont on March 1. Sophomore
Briana Benson came on strong once conference play started as she scored in double figures in ten OVC contests.
Morton, Cantrell, McLin and Benson accounted for 74.4 percent of JSU's offense last year.
The pollsters for the 2014-15 OVC Media Poll were: Bob Belvin, ESPN Clarksville; Jason Blanton, Morehead State Radio; Catlin Bogard, OVC Ball; Mike Bradd, Eastern Illinois Radio; Neal Bradley, Murray State Radio; Chris Brinkley, UT Martin Radio; Chris Brown, Anniston Star; Thomas Corhern, Cookeville Herald-Citizen; Craig Delk, Cookeville Herald-Citizen; James Horne, Paducah Sun; David Loos, Austin Peay Radio; Courtney Martinez, Belmont Vision; JR McHenry, JR The Bossman Show; Brian Nielsen, Journal Gazette/Times-Courier; Mike Organ, The Tennessean;
Mike Parris, Jacksonville State Radio; Harry Schroeder, ValleyHoopsInsider.com; Erik Sean, Southeast Missouri Radio; Aldo Soto, Daily Eastern News; Greg Stotelmyer, Eastern Kentucky Radio; Craig Thomas, Jackson Sun; Rich Tiner, Belmont Radio.
2014-15 Media OVC Preseason Women's Predicted Order of Finish
1. Belmont (9 first-place votes) - 216 points
2. UT Martin (6) - 210
3. Eastern Kentucky (4) - 208
4. Jacksonville State (1) - 155
5. Tennessee State - 147
6. Tennessee Tech - 143
7. SIUE - 100
8. Eastern Illinois - 99
9. Austin Peay - 80
10. Murray State - 74
11. Southeast Missouri - 65
12. Morehead State - 63
