2020-21 preseason SAC women's basketball poll

Women's Basketball 10/9/2020 12:00:00 PM

OCU takes second in preseason SAC poll

Stars tip off season Jan. 9 at Mid-America Christian

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University took second place in the 2020-21 Sooner Athletic Conference preseason women's basketball poll.
The Stars garnered one of the 11 first-place votes and 86 points. Wayland Baptist (Texas), coming off winning the conference tournament and splitting the league regular-season crown, has been selected as the unanimous preseason favorite in the poll.
Voted upon by the league's 11 head coaches, Wayland Baptist earned the maximum of 100 points in the poll while receiving 10 of the 11 first-place votes after finishing the 2019-20 campaign with a 31-2 record, including a 19-1 mark in conference play. The Flying Queens picked up a big late season win over Oklahoma City 65-50 to split the regular-season crown with the Stars before topping OCU in the SAC Tournament championship game 68-57 at the Hutcherson Center in Plainview, Texas on March 7.
Oklahoma City, the SAC regular-season co-champion last season, will be headlined by Abby Selzer, who helped guide the Stars to a 30-2 record and a 19-1 league mark. Selzer, a junior center from Thomas, Okla., became a consensus first-team NAIA all-American, the SAC athlete of the year and league women's basketball player of the year in 2019-20. The Stars' Mallory Lockhart, a junior from Keller, Texas, raked in honorable-mention NAIA Division I all-American honors. Much like the Flying Queens, the Stars ended the year as the third-ranked team in the country while also being selected to compete as a No. 1 seed in the NAIA Championship Tournament before its cancelation.
WBU finished the season as the second-ranked team in the NAIA and received a No. 1 seed in the NAIA Tournament before the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Flying Queens return two of the top players in the league from a season ago in senior forward Kaylee Edgemon, who was a first-team all-SAC honoree as well as a second-team all-conference selection in junior guard Jenna Cooper on the wing.
Mid-America Christian took third in the poll with 76 points, edging out Science & Arts of Oklahoma with 75 points after both teams advanced to the SAC Tournament semifinals in 2020. Texas Wesleyan rounded out the top five by reeling in 62 points followed by John Brown in sixth garnering 52 points.
Southwestern Christian brought in 45 points to take seventh in the poll, followed closely by Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) with 41 points as well as Langston bringing in 37 points for ninth.
Oklahoma Panhandle State captured 16 points for 10th, while Central Christian (Kan.) rounded out the poll with 15 points.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sooner Athletic Conference play will officially begin in January with each team getting 14 conference matchups. Each team will also get to play six games against SAC opponents that will not count toward the conference record and teams will have the option to pull out from competing during the 2020 portion of the schedule. Oklahoma City, John Brown and Langston have already opted out and will begin competition starting in January.
At the end of the regular season, the top eight teams in the league will receive bids to compete in the SAC Tournament, with the top four teams hosting the quarterfinal round at their home sites on Feb. 25. The semifinal round and championship games will be held at the Gaulke Activity Center on the campus of Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City from March 1-2. The conference regular-season and tournament title winners earn national-tournament berths. The newly-added NAIA Championship Opening Round occurs March 12-13 at many sites across the nation, while the NAIA Championship Tournament will be held March 18-23 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

2020-21 Sooner Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
No.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.
1.	Wayland Baptist	10										100
2.	Oklahoma City	1	7	1			1					86
3.	Mid-America Christian		2	3	4	1						76
4.	USAO		1	6	2			1				75
5.	Texas Wesleyan			1	3	4	1	1				62
6.	John Brown		1		1	1	4	1	2			52
7.	SW Christian				1	3	1	2	1	2		45
8.	SW Assemblies of God					1	4		5			41
9.	Langston					1		5	3	1		37
10.	Panhandle State							1		3	6	16
11.	Central Christian									5	5	15

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Players Mentioned

#5 Mallory Lockhart: G; 5' 8"; Junior

#40 Abby Selzer: C; 6' 2"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#5 Mallory Lockhart
: 5' 8"; Junior
: G

#40 Abby Selzer
: 6' 2"; Junior
: C

Players Mentioned

#5 Mallory Lockhart

#40 Abby Selzer

Players Mentioned

#5 Mallory Lockhart

#40 Abby Selzer