FRISCO, Texas - Defending Southland Conference regular season and tournament champions the Southeastern are predicted to repeat as Champions in the Preseason Poll announced by the league on Tuesday.
The Lady Lions also lead the way with two players named to the pre-season all-conference first team. Southeastern received 159 total points and 15 first place votes on Tuesday morning.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, last season's co-regular season champions, was slated second with 140 points and three first place votes. The remaining two votes went to last season's tournament runner-up in Lamar with 132 points.
UIW was fourth with 97 points followed by HCU and McNeese tied for fifth with 74 points. Northwestern State, Texas A&M-Commerce, New Orleans, and Nicholls rounded out the polls.
Last season's Southland Player of the Year Alecia Westbrook returns as one of the top headliners of fhe Preseason All-Conference Team. Westbrook averaged a double-double for the regular season with 12.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She ranked ninth in the conference in scoring average and led the Southland in rebounding for the third straight season. Westbrook ranked in the top 10 in the conference in shooting percentage, free throw percentage, and blocks, and led the conference in steals with 2.8 per game. She had 14 double-doubles this season, with 11 coming in SLC play.
Akasha Davis of Lamar and Alexius Horne of Southeastern joined Westbrook on the preseason first team after earning first team all-conference honors last spring. Hailey Giaratano of Southeastern and DeArica Pryor of New Orleans rounded out the first team.
Nina De Leon Negron of UIW, N'Denasija Collins of HCU, Sabria Dean of Lamar, Paige Allen of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Lexi Alexander of Nicholls all earned spots on the second team. De Leon Negron was last season's Newcomer of the Year, while Alexander was the Freshman of the Year.
Returning players from the 2023 All-Conference teams are automatically named to this year’s Preseason All-Conference teams at their same positions. Vacant positions are nominated and voted upon by the conference’s head coaches. Voting for one’s own player is not permitted.
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2023 Southland Conference Preseason First Team
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Pos.
|
Name
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School
|
Class
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Hometown
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|
F/C
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Alecia Westbrook
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Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
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Gr.
|
Kansas City, Mo.
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|
F/C
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Akasha Davis
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Lamar
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Jr.
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Dallas, Texas
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|
G
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Alexius Horne
|
Southeastern
|
Sr.
|
Baton Rouge, La.
|
|
G
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Hailey Giaratano
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Southeastern
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Sr.
|
Ponchatoula, La.
|
|
G
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DeArica Pryor
|
New Orleans
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Gr.
|
Urbandale, Iowa
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| 2023 Southland Conference Preseason Season Team |
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Pos.
|
Name
|
School
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
|
G
|
Nina De Leon Negron
|
UIW
|
Sr.
|
San Juan, Puerto Rico
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|
F
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N'Denasija Collins
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HCU
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Sr.
|
Mansfield, Texas
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|
G
|
Sabria Dean
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Lamar
|
Sr.
|
Mineola, Texas
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|
G
|
Paige Allen
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Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
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Sr.
|
Kansas City, Mo.
|
|
F
|
Lexi Alexander
|
Nicholls
|
So.
|
Round Rock, Texas
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| 2023 Southland Women's Basketball Preseason Poll |
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1.
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Southeastern Louisiana (15)
|
159
|
|
2.
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Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3)
|
140
|
|
3.
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Lamar (2)
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132
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4.
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UIW
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97
|
|
T-5.
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HCU
|
74
|
|
T-5.
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McNeese
|
74
|
|
7.
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Northwestern State
|
65
|
|
8.
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Texas A&M-Commerce
|
58
|
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9.
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New Orleans
|
56
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| 10. |
Nicholls |
39 |