Friday, October 20 , 2006
NORTH GEORGIA PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL
Lady Saints are the defending Peach Belt Conference champions
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- For the first time ever, the Clayton State Lakers have been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2006-07 Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball championship in a poll of the league’s head coaches released on Thursday. The Lakers garnered five of a possible 11 first-place votes and 112 points overall to finish ahead of Georgia College & State University, who was second with 107 votes. North Georgia was third with 89 and Columbus State fourth with 82. Lander, USC Upstate, Armstrong Atlantic State, Francis Marion, USC Aiken, UNC Pembroke, Augusta State and Georgia Southwestern rounded out the voting.
The Lakers were selected second in last year’s preseason poll but break through to the top spot for the first time after finishing last year with a 25-6 overall record, 17-3 in the PBC and making a trip to the NCAA Tournament. For 2006-07, the Lakers have six seniors returning to action, including All-Conference guard Sharon Wiles. Clayton State’s 25 wins last year tied a school record.
Georgia College & State University lost their final three games of the regular season and limped into the PBC Tournament as a #5 seed...then became the lowest-seeded team to ever win. With three straight, including a double-overtime win over Francis Marion in the championship game, the Lady Bobcats turned their season around. That should continue this year with 10 letterwinners and two seniors returning.
The Peach Belt Conference will have yet another new look for the 2006-07 season as divisional play returns. The new north division will include Francis Marion, Lander, UNC Pembroke, USC Aiken, USC Upstate and North Georgia. The south division will have Armstrong Atlantic State, Augusta State, Clayton State, Columbus State, Georgia College & State University and Georgia Southwestern. The league schedule will shrink from a 20-game format last year to 16 games this year as each team will play everyone in their division twice and the other division one time.
GSW joins the Peach Belt for the 2006-07 season and begins the four-year process of moving up from the NAIA ranks to full NCAA Division II status. The Hurricanes will play a full PBC schedule this season. Last year, North Georgia began the same process and promptly won the PBC Championship with a 19-1 conference record, 23-4 overall. Over the summer, North Georgia received a special wavier from the NCAA, shaving off one year of the transition. This means that the 2006-07 season will be third in their transition.
Below is the PBC preseason poll. Teams were awarded 11 points for a first-place vote, 10 points for second and so on. Coaches were not allowed to rank their own teams. Click HERE to view a team-by-team preview for the 2006-07 season which begins on Nov. 3 at the Disney Tip-Off Classic and continues on to the 2007 PBC Tournament which will be played in Greenwood, S.C., and hosted by Lander Feb. 27-March 4.
| 2006-07 PBC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll |
| School |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
10th |
11th |
Total |
| Clayton State |
5 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
112 |
| GCSU |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
107 |
| North Georgia |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
89 |
| Columbus State |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
82 |
| Lander |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
71 |
| USC Upstate |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
69 |
| AASU |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
64 |
| Francis Marion |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
62 |
| USC Aiken |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
46 |
| UNC Pembroke |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
44 |
| Augusta State |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
34 |
| Ga. S'western |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
12 |
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