JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- For the second-straight season, the Winthrop University women's basketball team have been picked to finish fourth in the Big South Conference Preseason Poll, the conference office announced on Wednesday morning.
After not scratching the top four spots since 2015-16, the Eagles have now garnered a second-straight top four placing.
Winthrop finished with a 16-15 overall record in the 2024-25 season, holding a 9-7 record in conference play earning the fifth seed and winning their first Big South tournament game since 2014 against fourth-seeded Charleston Southern at the buzzer.
Off the backs of her Big South Newcomer of the Year award and First Team honors, Amourie Porter has been tabbed as a member of the Preseason All-Big South Conference First Team after leading the Eagles with 13.1 points per game in 2024-25. The 5-foot-10 guard/forward started all 31 contests, shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from beyond the arc. Porter also proved effective on the glass, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game while adding 77 assists, 22 blocks, and 66 steals. Porter held the 13th best free throw percentage in the country with a mark of .890 percent, also pacing the Big South. Porter was named the Big South Player of the Week on Nov. 18, 2024. She is the first Eagle to garner first team honors since Erica Williams in 2017. She was also the recipient of the Big South's first ever Newcomer of the Year award.
Head coach Semeka Randall Lay enters her fifth season at the helm of Winthrop. Randall Lay earned herself a contract extension in the offseason after showing consistent improvement year after year.
She returns five players from the previous squad, including getting former Big South All-Conference Honorable Mention guard Jada Ryce from injury. Ryce earned an honorable mention in 2023-24 after averaging 11.1 points per game that season. The 5-foot-5 guard started all 30 contests and proved to be one of the Big South's top two-way players, ranking among the team leaders in assists, 71, and steals, 53. Ryce shot 41.4 percent from the floor while knocking down 75 three-pointers and converting 77.5 percent from the free-throw line.
The full poll and preseason teams can be found down below:
2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
|
Rk - School (first-place votes)
|
Points
|
|
1 - High Point (6)
|
77
|
|
2 - Longwood (1)
|
69
|
|
3 - Radford (1)
|
67
|
|
4 - Winthrop
|
48
|
|
5 - Charleston Southern
|
41
|
|
6 - USC Upstate
|
33
|
|
7 - Gardner-Webb
|
25
|
|
8 - Presbyterian
|
23
|
|
9 - UNC Asheville (1)
|
22
|
Note: points are based on a weighted system. First-place votes received 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.
2025-26 Big South Conference Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
First-Team
Nevaeh Zavala, High Point (Preseason Player of the Year)
Joi Williams, Radford
Amourie Porter, Winthrop
Amor Harris, Longwood
Cate Carlson, Radford
Second-Team
Aaliyah Collins, High Point
Anaya Harris, Gardner-Webb
Cassie Gallagher, USC Upstate
Malea Brown, Longwood
Tyonna Bailey, Charleston Southern
