2016-17 All-OVC Preseason Women's Basketball Team

Belmont has been picked to win the 2016-17 Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball title in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. The Bruins earned 241 points, including 21 first-place votes while UT Martin earned one first-place nod and 220 points for a second-place predicted finish. Eastern Kentucky picked up the last two first-place votes and 190 points to be selected third. SIUE is picked to finish fourth with 160 points while Murray State and Southeast Missouri tied with 146 points to be selected to finish fifth. Rounding out the poll are Tennessee State (138), Jacksonville State (90), Austin Peay (82), Morehead State (75), Tennessee Tech (70) and Eastern Illinois (26).Belmont is coming off a season in which it went 24-9 overall and 13-3 in the OVC to place second. The Bruins earned the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament and defeated Eastern Kentucky, 95-63, in the championship final to win their first tourney crown. Belmont made its second NCAA appearance, falling to Michigan State in the first round. Cameron Newbauer enters his fourth year at the helm of the Bruins and will have all five starters returning from last year's team, including the 2015-16 OVC Freshman of the year in Darby Maggard and the 2015-16 OVC Defensive Player of the Year in Sally McCabe. Maggard, a sophomore guard from Larwill, Ind., ranked among league-leaders with 12.5 points and 5.2 assists per game last year. .A junior center from Mt. Juliet, Tenn., McCabe led the OVC with 59 total blocks last year. She also put up 12.2 points per game and brought down 7.3 rebounds each time out. Also coming back this season is redshirt junior forward Kylee Smith. A native of Alpharetta, Ga., Smith was the team's top scorer last year with 13.8 points per game. She also dished out 117 assists and recorded 5.8 rebounds each time out. Maggard, McCabe and Smith each earned preseason All-OVC honors.UT Martin went 22-10 overall and 14-2 in the OVC to win its fifth OVC regular-season title. The Skyhawks were the top seed in the OVC Tournament and fell in the first round to Murray State. UT Martin earned the league's automatic bid to the WNIT and defeated Memphis in the first round before falling to Western Kentucky in the second round. Kevin McMillan is in his eighth season at the head coach of UT Martin and will have two starters returning from last year’s team. In addition, the Skyhawks will have four other players returning and seven newcomers. Redshirt junior Jessy Ward is among the starters coming back this season. Ward, a native of Clarksville, Tenn., led the Conference with 104 three-pointers made and 3.3 made per game. A 2016-17 Preseason All-OVC pick, she was also among league leaders with in three-point field goal percentage (.413) and points per game (13.0). Sophomore guard Myah Taylor is also returning this year after recording 8.7 points per game and a 43.2 field goal percentage last year.Eastern Kentucky posted a 18-12 overall and 10-6 in the OVC to finish fourth last season. The Colonels were the No. 4 seed in the OVC Tournament and made it all the way to the championship game where they fell to Belmont. Chrissy Roberts enters her ninth season at the helm of the Eastern Kentucky. She will return three starters among eight letter winners from last year's team while also welcoming five newcomers. Senior forward Jalen O'Bannon and senior guard Michaela Hunter are among the top returners for the Colonels. O'Bannon, a native of Memphis, Tenn., was named the OVC Preseason Player of the Year after leading the league with 9.8 rebounds per game and ranking fifth with 17.2 points per game. A product of Mt. Vernon, Ky., Hunter recorded 12.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last year. She also ranked 13th in the league with 1.6 steals each time out. She enters the 2016-17 season three points shy of 1,000 for her career.The 2016-17 regular-season beings on Nov. 11 with Conference play starting Dec. 29. Nine different teams have won a regular-season title with Tennessee Tech leading the way with 18.The 2016-17 Preseason All-OVC team is headlined by Eastern Kentucky senior forward Jalen O'Bannon who was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year after earning All-OVC first team and All-Newcomers honors last year.The preseason squad features student-athletes from seven different teams. Belmont leads the way with three selections while Tennessee State had two picks. Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin each have one honoree.O'Bannon was an All-OVC first team and All-Newcomer pick last season. The Memphis, Tenn. native led the league with 9.8 rebounds per game while also ranking fifth with 17.2 points each time out. O'Bannon made 50.8 percent of her field goals while recording 38 blocks and 33 steals.Earning Preseason All-Conference team honors this year after being named to the All-OVC first team last season were Belmont redshirt junior forward Kylee Smith (13.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and junior center Sally McCabe (12.2 ppg, 1.8 bpg); Murray State junior guard Ke'Shunan James (17.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and Tennessee State senior forward Jayda Johnson (15.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg).Rounding out the preseason squad after earning All-OVC second team honors last season are: Morehead State redshirt senior Brianna McQueen (15.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg); Southeast Missouri senior guard Bri Mitchell (13.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg); Tennessee State senior forward I'mani Davis (12.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and UT Martin senior guard Jessy Ward (13.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg).1. Belmont (21 first-place votes) - 2412. UT Martin (One first-place vote) - 2203. Eastern Kentucky (Two first-place votes) - 1904. SIUE - 160t5. Murray State - 146t5. Southeast Missouri - 1467. Tennessee State - 1388. Jacksonville State - 909. Austin Peay - 8210. Morehead State - 7511. Tennessee Tech - 7012. Eastern Illinois - 26(*Schools were not allowed to rank their own team. 11 points awarded for a first-place vote, 10 for second, etc.)Jalen O'Bannon, Eastern KentuckyJalen O'Bannon, Eastern KentuckyKe'Shunan James, Murray StateKylee Smith, BelmontJayda Johnson, Tennessee StateSally McCabe, BelmontDarby Maggard, BelmontJessy Ward, UT MartinBri Mitchell, Southeast MissouriBrianna McQueen, Morehead StateI'mani Davis, Tennessee State