Clayton State, USC Aiken Ranked in Women's Basketball Preseason Top 25

Clayton State and USC Aiken have both been ranked in the women’s basketball preseason top 25 as released by the Division II Bulletin. Both teams are ranked in the preseason for the first time in their respective histories. Clayton State begins the season ranked 12th while USC Aiken is 25th.

Clayton State is coming off a banner 29-6 season in 2006-07 in which the Lakers won both the Peach Belt Conference regular season and tournament championships, and advanced to the “Final Four” of the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

“Pre-season rankings are always a tough thing to gauge,” said fourth-year Clayton State head coach Dennis Cox, who is 79-19 at the Laker helm. “While we are flattered that we would have this kind of expectation, we also know that we haven’t even won a game yet.

“However, we gladly accept and greatly appreciate the recognition, for it brings national exposure to our program and to Clayton State University. We look forward to the opportunity and the challenge to live up to it.”

The Lakers return two starters off last season’s squad – senior All-Peach Belt Conference forward Shantel Ragin and senior wing Roberta Phillips. Also back is senior center Lynette Jackson, one of the nation’s leaders in blocked shots last season, and junior wing and 3-point threat Marie St. Fort.

On top of that, Cox has brought in a stellar recruiting class consisting of two Division II transfers, a Georgia All-State high school standout and five All-Region and All-American caliber players from the junior college level in Florida.

For USC Aiken, the national ranking is the team’s first in five years.

“The ranking is great for our players, program, and University,” said USCA head coach Mike Brandt, entering his sixth season. “It shows that other people in the basketball world respect us for the level we are at. Our goal, of course, is to use the ranking as motivation and to continue to climb up the poll. On the other side, it also puts a target on you as your opponents want to take advantage of the opportunity to beat a ranked team. They will bring their best at us each night.”

The last time USC Aiken appeared in a national poll was December 12, 2002 when they were 20th. The Lady Pacers dropped out the following week, ending a string of 16-straight polls appeared in dating back to 2001.

North Dakota returns three starters from last year’s Elite Eight club that went 32-4 and is the preseason number one team in their final year of Division II competition. Southern Connecticut State, the 2006-07 defending champion, is tabbed second followed by Emporia State, West Texas A&M, and Drury.

USC Aiken (20-9, 11-5 PBC) won eight of their final nine regular season games and advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals in 2006-07 for their most successful season in five years. Picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll, the Lady Pacers surprised critics with a young, but talented team that won 20 games and captured the program’s third PBC North Division Title, but first since 2001-02.

With an 11-5 conference mark, USC Aiken finished second outright in the overall standings, just one game back of regular season champion Clayton State. In their only match-up, however, the Lady Pacers shocked the 15th-ranked Lakers with a 68-64 win in Morrow, Ga. It was the only home loss to a conference opponent suffered by the eventual Division II Final Four team all year.

For the 2007-08 campaign, Brandt returns three starters and six of his top seven scorers from last year. Led by seniors Avonte Williams (9.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Jordon Thomas (8.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg), the Lady Pacers feature the return of junior Meredith Legg (11.3 ppg), who finished third in Division II in three-point shooting last year at 47.5 percent. Also, the addition of Morgan Johnson will be key. The 6-0 post player transferred from Presbyterian after earning Second-Team South Atlantic All-Conference honors.