Coker Tabbed as Preseason Favorite to Repeat as SAC Champions
In addition to the team’s No. 1 preseason ranking, reigning SAC Player of the Year Shawnteanna Tillman was named to the preseason All-Conference First Team.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Coming off the best season in program history — one that included a South Atlantic Conference Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight — the Coker University women's basketball team has been selected as the preseason favorite to repeat as conference champions, the league announced Thursday morning.
In addition to the team's No. 1 preseason ranking, reigning SAC Player of the Year Shawnteanna Tillman was named to the preseason All-Conference First Team.
Led by head coach Melissa DeVore, who enters her sixth season at the helm, the Cobras received 129 points and nine first-place votes in the preseason SAC poll, as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches. Carson-Newman, Wingate, and Anderson followed Coker in the poll.
Tillman, a senior guard from Columbia, S.C., earned SAC Player of the Year honors last season after averaging 17.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 steals per game. She also set the Coker single-season scoring record with 603 points, including 10 performances of 20 or more points.
Junior forward Kamari Thompson was named to the SAC's Preseason Players to Watch list. She averaged 7.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game during last season's historic run.
Coker opens the 2025-26 regular season on November 14 against Francis Marion at UNC Pembroke.
2025-26 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rank School (First Place Votes) Score
1. Coker (9) 129
2. Carson-Newman (2) 117
3. Wingate 107
4. Anderson (1) 106
5. Lenoir-Rhyne 89
6. Catawba 85
7. Lincoln Memorial 77
8. UVA Wise 58
9. Newberry 45
10. Tusculum 43
11. Emory & Henry 37
12. Mars Hill 31
2025-26 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference First Team
Shawnteanna Tillman, Coker
Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman
Aaliyah El, Lenoir-Rhyne
Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial
Breanna Yarber, Emory & Henry
Kamil Collier, Lincoln Memorial
Laney Beale, Wingate
2025-26 SAC Women's Basketball Players to Watch
Anderson: Rose Gravel, Ashlyn Sheridan
Carson-Newman: Emily Gonzalez
Catawba: Mary Spry, Bailee Goodlett
Coker: Kamari Thompson
Emory & Henry: Gracyn Hall
Lenoir-Rhyne: Lauren Arnold
Mars Hill: Jadyiah Peoples, Makayla Street
Newberry: Mary-Kate Kent, Rickell Brown
Tusculum: Abbi Douglas, Josie Horner
UVA Wise: Caroline Mullins, Madison Looney
Wingate: Kyleigh Bacon