Carson-Newman Voted as Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite; Preseason All-Conference Announced

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Carson-Newman was voted as the preseason favorite in the 2024-25 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll as announced by the league today. The Eagles earned four first-place votes and had 130 points in the poll.

Carson-Newman went 14-6 in league play a season ago and 24-10 overall. The Eagles have to figure out a way to replace All-American Braelyn Wykle but have plenty of talent as they search for a ninth regular season SAC title. Lindsey Taylor is back after a season that saw her earn First Team All-Conference accolades where she led the league in field goal percentage at 59.8 percent. She also finished in the top 10 in the league in points, field goals made, blocks and rebounding.

Coming in second in the poll and just four points behind Carson-Newman is Anderson. The Trojans earned a pair of first place votes and return an explosive duo in Diamond McDowell and Zamiya Passmore. McDowell was second in the league in rebounds and was second in blocks. Passmore scored over 15 points per game and led the SAC in assists with 205.

Lenoir-Rhyne has an ultra-talented duo of their own in Blaikley Crooks and Emily Harman that have the Bears at third in the poll and with four first place votes. Crooks and Harman were First and Second Team All-SAC selections respectively last year and combined to score nearly 29 points per game.

Wingate comes in at No. 4 in the poll and also earned a pair of first place votes. The Bulldogs won the SAC Tournament as the 4-seed a year ago, the 11^th in program history. Wingate was 14-6 in SAC play and 22-10 overall.

The defending regular season champion comes in at No. 5 in the preseason poll but also earned a first place vote. Catawba was 17-3 in the SAC and went 24-6 overall to host an NCAA regional as the 1-seed for a second straight season.

Lincoln Memorial slots in at No. 6 according to the coaches with 93 points. The Railsplitters went 14-6 in the conference and 19-8 overall in 2023-24.

Coker earned 72 points to come in seventh, while Mars Hill and UVA Wise were separated by just five points for eighth and ninth respectively.

Limestone, Emory & Henry, Newberry and Tusculum round out the coaches poll.

2024-25 SAC Women's Basketball Poll

2024-25 SAC Preseason All-Conference

First Team

Blaikley Crooks, Lenoir-Rhyne
Diamond McDowell, Anderson
Lindsey Taylor Carson-Newman
Zamiya Passmore, Anderson
Emily Harman, Lenoir-Rhyne
Breanna Yarber, Emory & Henry

Second Team

Maddie Gillie, Mars Hill
Kalisha Hill, Limestone
Reagan Kargo, Limestone
Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial
Katlin Burger, UVA Wise
Ashlyn Sheridan, Anderson

Players to Watch

Anderson – Ashlyn Sheridan
Carson-Newman – Makayla Alvey, Campbell Penland
Catawba – Nala Baker, Jada Porter, Mary Spry
Coker – Kristynn Knight (G, Jr.), Mya Wasswa (G, Sr.), Kamari Thompson (F, So.)
Emory & Henry – Emma Santoro, Gracyn Hall, Hannah Spainhour
Lenoir-Rhyne – Alexandra Merceron, Tilda Lindstroem, Vanessa Jurewicz
Limestone – Dior Shelton
Lincoln Memorial – Matty Tanner, Kamil Collier
Mars Hill – Aaliyah El, Tateyoina Harris
Newberry – Ella Pearson, Jess Tomkins
Tusculum – Ni'Kiah Chesterfield (C, So.), Abbi Douglas (G/F, Gr.)
UVA Wise – Ella Karst, Caroline Mullins, Sable Burnside
Wingate – Anna Baraldi, Laney Beale, Trinity Breedlove