Flagler enters the season having to replace its top two leading scorers from a year ago as both women were lost to graduation. The biggest loss is First-Team All-Peach Belt performer Tori Pearce who was the team's leading scorer and the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Sophomore guard Taylor Gardner should be expected to shoulder the offensive load for Coach Mo Smith's team this season. Gardner averaged 7.9 points per game as a freshman, including a 17-point outburst against UVA Wise in aiding Flagler to victory. Picked third in the Preseason PBC Coaches' Poll, Clayton State returns the bulk of its roster from a year ago. The Lakers dropped a 69-62 exhibition contest to Georgia Tech last week. In that game, a trio of players Laylah Davis (14), Audrey McElhaney (12) and Taniya Patrick (10) registered double figures for Coach Kaleena Coleman.

UVA Wise is coming off a 12-16 season that saw the team win 9-of-13 games down the stretch to qualify for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. Senior point guard Caityln Ross and redshirt junior guard Nia Vanzant were tabbed Second-Team Preseason All-SAC selections earlier this month. Ross has been a two-time all-league player during her career and enters the season with 924 points and 418 assists. Vanzant has registered 1,144 points in her career and has also been an all-conference player twice. In the post, the team looks to rely on senior Leah Kestner who has appeared in 41 games during her career, Anderson University transfer Kaitlin Bailey and sophomore Katlin Burger who scored in double figures in each of the season's final six games last winter. Sophomores Sable Burnside and Josie Hester are also returners who should factor into the rotation. Burnside can play inside and outside at 5-foot-10 while Hester figures to be a long range threat after making 33.3 percent of her long range attempts as a freshman.