ROCK HILL, S.C. – Coming off one of the most successful seasons in recent memory, the Anderson University Women's Basketball team has been voted by the South Atlantic Conference coaches to win the conference regular season title.

"I am very honored that the fellow coaches in the league feel this way," said head women's basketball coach Jonathon Barbaree. "Preseason rankings are great, but we have a lot of newcomers and we need to realize a target is on our back and continue to put in the work to defend that."

The Black and Gold earned 11 first place votes, placing them 20 points ahead of predicted second-place Carson-Newman (101). Traditional powerhouse Wingate accumulated 100 points and was slotted third. Tusculum (93) ranked fourth, while Lenoir-Rhyne (75) edged out Catawba (72) for a distant fifth and sixth place position, respectively. Lincoln Memorial (66) was slotted seventh, followed by Newberry (55) in eighth. Queens (43) sits in the nine hole while Coker (30) and SAC newcomer UVA-Wise (26) are voted No. 10 and No. 11. Mars Hill (11) rounds out the poll at No. 12.

Preseason All-SAC was also announced with seniors Alexy Mollenhauer and Madison Baggett both earning first-team honors.

Last season, Mollenhauer started in all 33 games and averaged 34.1 minutes, 19.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game to go along with 43 blocks and 39 steals. She was named SAC Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, while also being named the D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year, was a D2CCA First Team All-America, WBCA All-America and the SAC Women's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year. The six-time SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week eclipsed the 1,000-point mark, recorded 22 double-doubles, and pulled down 369 rebounds.

Baggett earned All-SAC Second Team honors and was named to the NCAA Southeast Region All-Tournament Team, a season ago. The native of Huntsville, Ala. averaged 35.2 minutes, 8.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. Baggett ranks sixth in AU all-time assists record book with 358 dimes, while closing in on several other top-10 categories.

Anderson opens it 2019-20 campaign with an exhibition game at ACC powerhouse NC State on Oct. 31^st. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

2019-20 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

2019-20 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference 

First Team

Alexy Mollenhauer, Anderson
Mia Long, Tusculum
Madison Baggett, Anderson
Addison Byrd, Carson-Newman
Kayla Marosites, Carson-Newman
Talia Barnes, Catawba

Second Team

Taisha DeSazo, Catawba
Teliyah Jeter, Wingate
Madeline Hardy, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kristian Eanes, Queens
Kelsey McDermott, Newberry
Cynita Webb, UVa-Wise