Tennessee Tech Picked to Win 2022-23 OVC Women's Basketball Title; EIU's Washington Named Preseason Player of the Year

Tennessee Tech Picked to Win 2022-23 OVC Women's Basketball Title; EIU's Washington Named Preseason Player of the Year

• 2022-23 Women's Basketball Preseason All-OVC Team (PDF) | OVC Men's Basketball Preseason Release | Photo Gallery | Media Day ESPN+ Broadcast

Tennessee Tech has been picked to win the 2022-23 Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball title in a preseason poll of the head coaches and communications directors.

The Golden Eagles earned 147 points and 11 first-place votes while UT Martin earned 134 points and four first-place votes for a second-place predicted finish. Newcomer Little Rock picked up four first-place votes and 129 points to finish third while Eastern Illinois earned 115 points to place fourth. Tennessee State earned the last first-place vote and 95 points to round out the top five. SIUE picked up 83 points for a sixth-place predicted finish followed by Southern Indiana (66), Southeast Missouri (61), Lindenwood (33) and Morehead State (33).
 
Tennessee Tech is coming off a season in which it went 21-11 overall and 14-4 in the OVC to finish second. The Golden Eagles earned the second seed in the OVC Tournament where they fell to Belmont in the championship final. Tennessee Tech earned the league’s in the WNIT where it defeated SMU and fell at Houston. Kim Rosamond enters her seventh season as the head coach at Tennessee Tech and will have Jada Guinn, Jordan Brock and Anna Walker back on the court. Guinn, a senior guard, recorded 8.9 points and 3.8 assists per game last season. A graduate guard, Brock returns this season after missing last year with an injury. In 2020-21, she posted 11.8 points per game. Walker, a junior forward, recorded 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds each outing last year.
 
UT Martin went 12-18 overall and 9-9 in the OVC to finish sixth last season. The Skyhawks earned the sixth seed in the OVC Tournament and fell to SIUE in the first round. Kevin McMillan enters his 14th season at the helm of the Skyhawks and will have graduate guard Paige Pipkin, sophomore guard Shae Littleford and graduate guard Seygan Robins returning this season. Pipkin finished last year ranked among league leaders with 12.3 points per game to go along with 4.1 rebounds each time out. Littleford also finished the 2021-22 season averaging double-digits in points with 11.0 per game.
 
Little Rock joins the OVC after going 17-10 overall and 8-4 to finish in a tie for fourth place in the Sun Belt last season. Joe Foley enters his 20th year as the head coach of the Trojans and will have redshirt junior forward Sali Kourouma and senior forward Angelique Francis back this season. Kourouma was Little Rock's leading scorer last year with 18.4 points each time out. She added 5.9 rebounds per game in 2021-22. Francis posted 4.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last year. 
 
2022-23 All-OVC Preseason Women's Basketball Team
The 2022-23 Preseason All-OVC team is headlined by Eastern Illinois senior guard Lariah Washington who was named the Preseason Player of the Year.
 
The preseason squad features student-athletes from seven different teams. Tennessee Tech and UT Martin leads the way with three selections each. Eastern Illinois has two picks while Southeast Missouri, SIUE, Southern Indiana and Tennessee State have one selection each.
 
Washington earned All-OVC First Team honors last season. She is the league's returning scorer after putting up 15.6 points per game in 2021-22. Washington ranked among league-leaders with 4.8 rebounds per game, a 47.3 field-goal percentage and a 82.7 free-throw percentage.
 
Earning preseason All-Conference team honors this year after being named to the All-OVC First Team last season is UT Martin graduate guard Paige Pipkin. She recorded 12.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last year.
 
Tennessee State sophomore guard Gia Adams (12.9 ppg; 2.6 apg) and UT Martin sophomore guard (11.0 ppg, 30.5 3-point FG%) were named to the preseason team after earning OVC All-Newcomer honors a year ago.
 
Tennessee Tech senior guard Jada Guinn (8.9 ppg, 3.8 apg), graduate guard Jordan Brock (11.8 ppg, 38.7 FG% in 2020-21), and junior forward Anna Walker (8.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg); UT Martin graduate guard Seygan Robins (9.8 ppg, 39.6 FG%); Southern Indiana senior forward Hannah Haithcock (12.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg); Southeast Missouri sophomore forward Kennedi Watlkins (8.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg); and Eastern Illinois senior forward Morgan Litwiller (7.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg) round out the preseason squad.