Friday, October 21, 2005

LADY SAINTS PICKED NINTH IN 2005 PBC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
Columbus State PBC Women's Basketball Preseason Favorite

AUGUSTA, GA - The Columbus State Lady Cougars have been selected as the Peach Belt Conference team to beat in 2005-06, according to a poll of the league's head coaches released on Friday. The Lady Cougars received eight of a possible 10 first-place votes, outdistancing second-place Clayton State by 10 points. GC&SU was third in the voting with Armstrong Atlantic State in fourth. UNC Pembroke, a tie between Augusta State and USC Aiken, Francis Marion, North Georgia, USC Upstate and Lander rounded out the voting.

Columbus State returns three starters from last season's 21-10 team that reached the PBC Tournament final and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Leading the way will be junior center Cherwonna Walker who averaged 10.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. CSU returns their top three rebounders from last season with senior forward Erin Gibbs and senior guard Tabasha Taylor also returning. Head coach Jay Sparks will also welcome in 10 new players, three of whom are over six feet tall.

Clayton State made history last year with their first PBC Championship, first PBC Tournament title and first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Living up to those expectations will be tough for second-year coach Dennis Cox, but with six letterwinners returning including All-Conference starters Shelcey Harp and Jasmine Patterson, the Lakers could very well repeat this year. Clayton State will also welcome in a recruiting class filled with junior college transfers, including a pair of 6-3 post players.

Georgia College & State University will welcome back only two seniors and two starters from last year's 18-10 team. Gone is All-Conference guard Kristi Jones but the Lady Bobcats should have a solid backcourt with sophomore Lindsey Smith returning after starting 16 games as a freshman and junior Cassie Miliner and senior Amanda Lomax. Head coach John Carrick, in his 23rd season at the school, has assembled a deep recruiting class which includes former Georgia player Marquita Driskell.

The PBC will be a new-look league in 2005-06. Gone are Kennesaw State and North Florida to the Division I ranks. The conference welcomes in North Georgia, who is beginning their transition from the NAIA and will not play in the PBC Tournament, although the Saints will be eligible for the regular season conference championship. The league has also done away with divisional play and will feature a 20-game conference schedule leading up to the PBC Tournament hosted by Lander in March 2006. The league will also welcome in new head coaches Kevin Pederson of Lander and Tammy George of USC Upstate.

School	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Total
1. Columbus State	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	98
2. Clayton State	2	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	88
3. GC&SU	0	3	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	73
4. Armstrong Atlantic	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	0	1	0	66
5. UNC Pembroke	0	0	1	4	1	2	2	0	0	0	60
T-6. Augusta State	0	0	0	1	4	2	0	2	1	0	49
T-6. USC Aiken	0	0	1	1	0	4	3	0	1	0	49
8. Francis Marion	0	0	1	1	2	0	1	3	1	1	43
9. North Georgia	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	33
10. USC Upstate	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	2	4	24
11. Lander	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	1	4	22

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