Jackson State women predicted to win SWAC title, UAPB’s Green named preseason POTY

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2022-23 Women’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish and Preseason All-SWAC teams and individual award winners during the league’s virtual media day event on Monday morning. The all-conference honors and preseason poll was voted on by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.

Jackson State was tabbed as the favorite heading into the 2022-23 season. The Lady Tigers were followed by Alabama State (2^nd), Southern (3^rd), Alabama A&M (4^th) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5^th) to round out the top five preseason poll selections.

Grambling State (6^th), Prairie View A&M (7^th), Texas Southern (8^th), Bethune-Cookman (9^th), Florida A&M (10^th), Alcorn State (11^th), and Mississippi Valley State (12^th) were tabbed to finish 6-12 respectively.

JSU led all preseason poll selections garnering 19 first-place votes, followed by Southern (1), Alabama A&M (1), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1), Prairie View A&M (1), and Mississippi Valley State (1), with each tallying one first-place vote.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Zaay Green was named Preseason Player of the Year, while Jackson State’s Daja Woodard claimed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year recognition.

Green completed her debut season in the SWAC last season after arriving at UAPB from Texas A&M. She was a key contributor for the Lady Golden Lions as she finished the season ranked sixth in scoring with an average of 16.4 points per game, sixth in rebounding with a total of 201, fifth in steals with a total of 54, and third in assists (5.0 apg).

Woodard completed her debut season with JSU ranked seventh in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and eleventh in blocks (24). She also registered a total 23 steals and 16 assists last season. The Lady Tigers claimed the 2022 SWAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship title as they advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, where the team fell short of a historic win against LSU.

The complete list of the preseason poll rankings and all-conference selections and individual awards winners are listed below.

2022-23 SWAC Women’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish

1. Jackson State- 281 (19)
2. Alabama State- 233
3. Southern- 217 (1)
4. Alabama A&M- 191 (1)
5. Arkansas-Pine Bluff- 186 (1)
6. Grambling State- 167
7. Prairie View A&M- 156 (1)
8. Texas Southern- 155
9. Bethune-Cookman- 92
10. Florida A&M- 90
11. Alcorn State- 57
12. Mississippi Valley State- 46 (1)

First-place votes are listed in parentheses

Preseason Player of the Year
Zaay Green, Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Daja Woodard, Jackson State

Preseason All-SWAC First Team
Zaay Green, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Ayana Emmanuel, Alabama State
Andriana Avent, Texas Southern
Diana Rosenthal, Prairie View A&M
Miya Crump, Jackson State

Preseason All-SWAC Second Team
Shmya Ward, Alabama State
Genovea Johnson, Southern
Jayla Crawford, Alabama State
Keshuna Luckett, Jackson State
Daja Woodard, Jackson State

Courtesy: SWAC