Big South Media Day Photo Gallery
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Longwood University has been picked to finish 11th in the 2012-13 Big South Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, as announced Tuesday at the Big South Basketball Media Day in Charotte, N.C. Liberty University was selected to finish first, receiving 16 first-place votes and 233 total points in the vote conducted among the league's 11 head coaches and a select media panel. In addition, Winthrop University's junior guard Dequesha McClanahan was named the Big South Preseason Player of the Year. Longwood begins the 2012-13 season at the University of Richmond of the Atlantic 10 Conference on Friday, November 9. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Liberty, the 2011-12 Big South Conference Tournament Champion, finished the season with a 24-9 overall record and a 16-2 mark in Big South action. One of three returning starters for 14th-year head coach Carey Green's Flames, redshirt-senior guard/forward Devon Brown, was named to the 2012-13 Big South Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team.
High Point University collected four first-place votes and 215 total points to place second in the preseason poll, ahead of Winthrop, who rounded out the top three with two first-place votes and 199 total points. High Point finished 2011-12 with a 20-13 overall record and a 13-5 conference mark. The Panthers are led by two, Preseason All-Conference selections, in junior center Cheyenne Parker and senior guard Erin Reynolds. Last season, Winthrop compiled an 18-13 overall record, going 12-6 in Big South games, and will enter 2012-13 under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin Cook.
Campbell University earned 159 points to finish fourth in the poll, ahead of Radford University (fifth, 154 points), Charleston Southern University (sixth, 136 points), Coastal Carolina University (seventh, 92 points), Presbyterian College (eighth, 91 points), Gardner-Webb University (ninth, 62 points), UNC Asheville (10th, 60 points) and Longwood (11th, 51 points). The Fighting Camels, led by 32nd-year head coach Wanda Watkins, finished 2011-12 with a final record of 18-12 overall, including an 11-7 mark in the Big South. Radford returns all five starters from last year's team that finished 16-15 overall and 9-9 in the conference, including Preseason All-Conference selection Da'Naria Erwin Spencer. Charleston Southern, led by second-year head coach Fred Applin, finished fifth in the conference last season with a 17-15 overall record and a 9-9 mark in Big South games. Coastal Carolina returns just one starter from its 2011-12 team that finished 13-15 overall and 6-12 in conference action, while Presbyterian returns all five starters from last year's team that went 14-15 overall, 8-10 in the Big South. Both Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville turned in a conference record of 3-15 in 2011-12. The Runnin' Bulldogs finished 4-25 overall, while UNCA registered an overall record of 7-23.
The Lancers are led by a talented group of returning letterwinners in 2012-13, including four senior starters in
Crystal Smith, a 5-8 guard,
Chelsea Coward, a 6-1 guard/forward,
Erin Neal, a 5-7 guard, and
Mieke Elkington, a 5-8 guard. Sophomore
Rianna Frazer, a 5-4 guard, rounds out the returners for Longwood, as the squad welcomes nine newcomers this season.
Longwood finished the 2011-12 season with a 7-22 overall record. The squad will play an 18-game Big South schedule this season, including nine conference home games. Third-year head coach
Bill Reinson is assisted by
Wanisha Smith, in her fourth season at Longwood, as well as first-year assistant coaches Sarah Williams and Adria Crawford.
