UNC Asheville Voted 2016-17 Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – UNC Asheville’s women’s basketball team has been chosen as the favorite in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason poll for the 2016-17 season. The announcement was made today at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center in Concord, N.C., as part of the league’s 2016-17 Basketball Tip-Off Media Luncheon.
It is the first time that Asheville has been voted the preseason women’s basketball favorite, as the program’s previous best finish in the poll was third-place on four occasions. The Bulldogs, who welcome back four starters and 12 letterwinners from last year’s Big South Championship team, received eight of the 10 first-place votes and 97 total points. Asheville is just the fourth different member to be voted in the Big South’s preseason women’s basketball favorite in league history. Radford was voted second with 78 points -- the Highlanders’ highest position in the preseason poll since 2011-12, while High Point was third with 72 points (one first-place vote).
Liberty, last year’s tournament runner-up, was picked fourth with 72 points and the remaining first-place vote -- the first time the Lady Flames finished outside the top two in the preseason poll since 1996-97 (seventh). Presbyterian College was voted fifth with 61 points -- PC’s highest-ever standing in the preseason ranking, while Gardner-Webb finished sixth in the poll with 50 points. Charleston Southern claimed the seventh spot (38 points), ahead of Campbell (36 points - 8th), Longwood (24 points - 9th) and Winthrop (18 points - 10th).
Big South basketball tips off Friday, Nov. 11 with eight women’s contests. The first conference date is Tuesday, Jan. 3, and the season culminates with the 2017 Big South Basketball Championship March 9-12 in Lynchburg, Va.
| Rk |
School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
UNC Asheville (8) |
97 |
| 2. |
Radford |
78 |
| 3. |
High Point (1) |
76 |
| 4. |
Liberty (1) |
72 |
| 5. |
Presbyterian College |
61 |
| 6. |
Gardner-Webb |
50 |
| 7. |
Charleston Southern |
38 |
| 8. |
Campbell |
36 |
| 9. |
Longwood |
24 |
| 10. |
Winthrop |
18 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system. First-place votes received 10 points, followed by 9 points for second-place, and so on.