JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — With the season around the corner, the Longwood women's basketball team has been chosen to finish third in the 2026-27 Big South Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, announced Wednesday at the league's annual basketball media day at the Carnegie Hotel.

For the fourth consecutive season, the Lancers, under head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery, have a presence on the preseason All-Big South first team as sophomore guard Jesstynie Scott claimed the recognition.

Longwood earned 63 points in the poll of league head coaches, ahead of Gardner-Webb in fourth with 43 points and UNC Asheville and Winthrop, which tied for fifth with 41 points. 

High Point and Radford were in picked in a tie atop the poll with 75 points, while splitting eight first-place votes equally. Asheville took the final first-place nod.

Scott averaged 7.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.4 minutes per game in earning a spot on the Big South All-Freshman Team. The Americus, Ga., native was named Big South Freshman of the Week four times (Nov. 10 and 17, Dec. 1 and Jan. 26).

She led the Big South and finished 27th in the country with 92 total steals and also was tops in the Big South in steals per game at 2.97, good for 18th in the NCAA.

Scott joins Amor Harris in 2025-26 and Adriana Shipp-Davis in 2024-25 and 2023-24 in recent history on the preseason all-conference first team.

Rounding out the poll is USC Upstate in seventh with 36 points, Presbyterian in eighth with 18 points and Charleston Southern in ninth with 13 points.

The Lancers, winners of at least 20 games in each of the last two seasons, open the year against the Apprentice School on Nov. 2 at the Joan Perry Brock Center. Tip is slated for 5 p.m.

Catch all the memorable moments at the Joan Perry Brock Center this season with season tickets now on sale at www.longwoodlancers.com/tickets. Single-game tickets go on sale Thursday.