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SIUE has been picked to win the 2015-16 Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball title in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. The Cougars earned 226 points, including 10 first-place votes while UT Martin is selected to finish second with 213 points garnering 10 first-place nods. Belmont picked up three first-place votes and 202 points. Jacksonville State is selected to finish fourth with 176 points while Tennessee State rounds out the top five earning one first-place vote and 168 points. Eastern Kentucky is picked to finish sixth with 122 points while Morehead State is selected to finish seventh with 111 points. Rounding out the poll are Austin Peay (109), Eastern Illinois (88), Murray State (71), Tennessee Tech (62) and Southeast Missouri (33).
SIUE is coming off a season in which it went 19-12 overall and 13-3 in the OVC en route to finishing second. The Cougars earned the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament and fell to Tennessee State in the semifinals. Paula Buscher enters her fourth season as the helm of the Cougars and will have four starters back from last year's squad. Among the starters returning are redshirt senior Shronda Butts. The Des Moines, Iowa native was named the 2015-16 OVC Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 15.6 points and 3.2 assists to rank among league leaders. Sophomore forward/center Gwen Adams will also be back this season after starting 29 of the 31 games she played last year. Adams, a native of Ferguson, Mo., recorded 11.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in 2014-15.
UT Martin went 22-11 overall and 16-0 in the OVC to win its fourth OVC regular-season title. The Skyhawks became the sixth OVC team to go undefeated in league play and just the second squad to post a 16-0 conference mark. UT Martin fell to Tennessee State in the OVC Championship game in overtime. The Skyhawks earned the league's automatic bid to the WNIT tournament and lost to Ole Miss in the first round. Kevin McMillan, the reigning OVC Coach of the Year, enters his seventh season as the head coach at UT Martin and will have three starters back from last year's team along with 10 newcomers. Among the players returning is redshirt junior guard Jessy Ward. The Clarksville, Tenn., native will be the team's top returning scorer as she put up 10.9 points per game last year. She also recorded 73 rebounds, 74 assists and 35 steals in 2014-15. Senior Katie Schubert will also be coming back this season after recording 7.1 points and 4.2 rebounds each time out last year.
Belmont finished in a fourth-place tie last year after going 14-17 overall and 10-6 in the OVC. The Bruins earned No. 4 seed in last year's OVC Tournament and fell to No. 1 UT Martin in the semifinals. Head coach Cameron Newbauer enters his third year with Belmont and will have junior forward Frankie Joubran and sophomore center Sally McCabe back from last year's team. A native of Detroit, Mich., Joubran is the team's top returning scorer after recording 11.0 points per game last season. She also brought down 8.8 boards each time out. McCabe, a product of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., played in all 31 games for the Bruins. She recorded 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds each time out as a freshman.
The 2015-16 regular-season begins on Nov. 13 with Conference play starting Dec. 31. Nine different teams have won a regular-season title with Tennessee Tech leading the way with 18.
2015-16 All-OVC Preseason Women's Basketball Team
The 2015-16 Preseason All-OVC team is headlined by SIUE redshirt senior guard
Shronda Butts who was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year after earning All-OVC first team and All-Newcomer honors last year.
The preseason squad features players from nine different teams. Eastern Kentucky is the only team that has multiple selections. Austin Peay, Belmont, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, SIUE, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin each have one honoree.
Butts was an All-OVC first team and All-Newcomer pick last year. The Des Moines, Iowa native led the team and ranked among league leaders with 15.6 points and 3.2 assists per game in 2014-15. She was also second on the team and in the OVC with an 81.7 free throw percentage. Butts made 45.0 percent of her field goal attempts while also recording 35 steals.
Earning Preseason All-Conference honors this year after being named to the All-OVC teams last season were Austin Peay's
Tiasha Gray (21.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Eastern Kentucky's
Shameekia Murray (14.0 ppg, 46.4 FG%), Jacksonville State's
Destany McLin (12.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and Tennessee Tech's
Samaria Howard (15.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg).
Rounding out the preseason squad are Belmont's
Sally McCabe (8.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg), Eastern Kentucky's
Michaela Hunter (14.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg), Morehead State's
Shay Steele (13.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Murray State's
Ke'Shunan James (15.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and UT Martin's
Jessy Ward (10.9 ppg, 40.2 FG%).
2015-16 OVC Women’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
(Selected by OVC Head Basketball Coaches and Sports Information Directors)
1. SIUE (10 first-place votes) - 226 points
2. UT Martin (10 first-place votes) - 213
3. Belmont (Three first-place votes) - 202
4. Jacksonville State - 176
5. Tennessee State (One first-place vote) - 168
6. Eastern Kentucky - 122
7. Morehead State - 111
8. Austin Peay - 109
9. Eastern Illinois - 88
10. Murray State - 71
11. Tennessee Tech - 62
12. Southeast Missouri - 33
(*Schools were not allowed to rank their own team. 11 points awarded for a first-place vote, 10 for second, etc.)
2015-16 Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Team
(Selected by OVC Head Basketball Coaches and Sports Information Directors)
Tiasha Gray, Austin Peay*
Shronda Butts, SIUE*%
Destany McLin, Jacksonville State#
Samaria Howard, Tennessee Tech#%
Shameekia Murray, Eastern Kentucky#%
Michaela Hunter, Eastern Kentucky
Ke'Shunan James, Murray State%
Shay Steele, Morehead State
Sally McCabe, Belmont
Jessy Ward, UT Martin%
Preseason OVC Player of the Year: Shronda Butts, SIUE
* - 1st team All-OVC in 2014-15
# - 2nd team All-OVC in 2014-15
% - OVC All-Newcomer team in 2014-15