The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team was voted the favorite Thursday to claim its fifth consecutive Southern Conference championship.
Yet the consensus is that it won’t be easy.
The Mocs received five out of eight first-place votes in the coaches’ poll and 11 of 16 such votes in the media poll, narrowly distancing 2015-16 co-champion Mercer in both polls. UTC finished with two more votes in the coaches’ poll and eight more in the media poll.
Senior center Jasmine Joyner was the preseason player of the year after averaging 13.1 points and 9.2 rebounds a game and blocking 126 shots, which ranked second in the country. She was joined by senior guard Queen Alford and junior guard Keiana Gilbert on the 10-player all-conference team.
Alford was a consensus second-team all-conference selection after averaging 10.9 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. Gilbert, who also was second-team all-league, averaged 12.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.
Samford, East Tennessee State and Furman rounded out the top five. Western Carolina was the consensus No. 6 pick, while Wofford and UNC Greensboro swapped spots in the coaches and media polls.
The Mocs open the season at Rutgers on Nov. 11, with their home opener on Nov. 14 against Florida.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.