RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Following a vote of the Great American Conference’s women’s basketball head coaches, Harding will enter the 2019-20 season as the preseason favorite, the conference announced on Thursday. The Lady Bisons received nine of the 12 first-place votes. Southwestern Oklahoma State picked up the remaining three first-place votes and placed second.
Harding returns all five starters and its top six scorers from a team that went 21-9 last season. Kellie Lampo headlines that group. Lampo, an All-Region selection, ranked third in the league in scoring, sixth in rebounds and second in double-doubles. Carissa Caples and Cheyenne Brown both garnered All-GAC honors last season.
Following a run to the NCAA Division II National Championship game, the Lady Bulldogs must replace their two All-Americans, Hayden Priddy and Hailey Tucker. They do return First-Team All-GAC honoree Tyra Aska, GAC Championships MVP Bethany Franks and Central Region All-Tournament selection Taber Beer. Aska averaged 12.0 points; Franks pulled down a GAC-leading 8.7 rebounds and Beer hit the game-winning 3-point field goal in the second round of the Central Regional.
Arkansas Tech took third in the balloting. Following an atypical regular season, the Golden Suns upset East Central and Southern Nazarene to advance to the final of the GAC Championships. They return Hannah Villines, the 2019 GAC Newcomer of the Year; she led the league in 3-point field goal percentage.
Southern Nazarene placed fourth, three points ahead of Henderson State. Last season, the Crimson Storm made program history by winning at game at the GAC Championships for the first time. Abby Niehues earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Year after she finished the season as one of nine players in Division II to block at least 100 shots. Henderson State brings back all five of its starters from last season’s squad. Pink Jones, a two-time First-Team All-GAC pick returns for her senior season with the Reddies. She averaged 15.1 points per game and ranked second in the GAC in assists per game at 4.6.
Southeastern Oklahoma State edged out East Central for sixth. The Savage Storm’s Katie Webb joins Lampo, Aska and Jones as returning members of the 2018-19 All-GAC First Team. She added All-Region honors to her resume as she averaged a GAC-leading 20.5 points. She shot 52.5 percent from the field and grabbed 7.4 rebounds per game before an injury prematurely ended her season. Last year, the Tigers finished second to the Bulldogs in the regular season. They must replace their top two scorers in Lakin Preisner and Tia Williams. Stefany Lourenco averaged 9.0 points per game and Madison Rehl shot 41.1 percent from the 3-point arc.
Northwestern Oklahoma State took eighth and Oklahoma Baptist finished in ninth. The Rangers qualified for the GAC Championships for the first time last season and gave SWOSU its closest contest of the week, a 78-73 decision in the quarterfinal round. Bailey Brown and Kalea King each made the All-GAC Honorable Mention team. Brown averaged 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds. King added 14.5 points per game. The Bison welcome back McKenzie Cooper from injury. In 2017-18, she averaged 17.1 points and shot 45.8 percent from the 3-point arc as she earned First-Team All-GAC honors.
Southern Arkansas, Ouachita and Arkansas-Monticello rounded out the poll. The Tigers and Blossoms feature new head coaches as Robert Dallimore replaced the retired Garry Crowder and Greg Long took over at UAM.
The 2019-20 season begins on Friday, November 8 with 10 schools opening play. Three schools - Arkansas-Monticello, Harding and Northwestern Oklahoma State - host regional crossover events. For the ninth-straight season, the top eight teams head to Bartlesville, Oklahoma for the GAC Championships.