The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2024-25 Women’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish and Preseason All-SWAC teams and individual award winners during the league’s media day event on Thursday morning.
The league’s head coaches and sports information directors voted on the all-conference honors and preseason poll.
Grambling State was tabbed as the favorite heading into the season. The Lady Tigers were followed by Southern (2nd), Alabama A&M (3rd), Jackson State (4th), and Florida A&M (5th) to round out the top five preseason poll selections.
Prairie View A&M (6th), Alcorn State (7th), Bethune-Cookman (8th), Texas Southern (9th), Alabama State (10th), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11th), and Mississippi Valley State (12th) were tabbed to finish 6th and 12th, respectively.
GSU led all preseason poll selections, garnering 10 first-place votes, followed by Alabama A&M (4), Jackson State (4), Florida A&M (3), Southern (2), and Prairie View A&M (1).
Alcorn State’s Destiny Brown was named Preseason Player of the Year, while Alabama A&M’s Alisha Wilson claimed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
Brown was one of Alcorn State’s standout players, starting in 26 of her 31 appearances and playing 25.7 minutes per game. She led the team in scoring with an impressive 12.6 points per game. Brown was also a force on the boards, collecting 230 rebounds (7.4 per game), including 67 on the offensive end. Defensively, she recorded 57 steals and 37 blocks, making her one of the team’s top contributors on both ends of the floor.
Wilson holds the Alabama A&M record for rebounds in a game with 24. She led the Bulldogs in rebounds in 14 games during the 2023-24 season. Wilson was also a significant presence on the defensive end of the floor, averaging 0.8 blocks per game while tallying a total of 24 blocks during the season.
The preseason poll rankings, all-conference selections, and individual award winners are listed below.
2024-25 SWAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
Grambling State- 276 (10)
Southern- 232 (2)
Alabama A&M- 226 (4)
Jackson State- 211 (4)
Florida A&M- 178 (3)
Prairie View A&M- 165 (1)
Alcorn State- 157
Bethune-Cookman- 142
Texas Southern- 117
Alabama State- 114
Arkansas-Pine Bluff- 86
Mississippi Valley State- 46
*First place votes listed in parenthesis
2024-25 Preseason Women’s Basketball Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Destiny Brown, Alcorn State
Defensive Player of the Year
Alisha Wilson, Alabama A&M
All-SWAC First Team
Coriah Beck, Alabama A&M
Destiny Brown, Alcorn State
Cordasia Harris, Alabama State
Alisha Wilson, Alabama A&M
Sh’Diamond McKnight, Mississippi Valley State
All-SWAC Second Team
Jaida Belton, Texas Southern
Olivia Delancy, Florida A&M
Kayla Clark, Bethune-Cookman
Zy’Nyia White, Alcorn State
Chanelle McDonald, Bethune-Cookman
Courtesy: SWAC
