Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

After earning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year last season, FIU junior guard Jerica Coley was named SBC Preseason Player of the Year, while Middle Tennessee was picked to win the SBC East Division and UALR was tabbed to win the SBC West, the league office announced Tuesday.

Coley, a native of St. Petersburg, Fla., led the conference in both points (23.4) and blocks (1.9) per game last season. Averaging 39.4 minutes a game, Coley was a huge contributor to a Panthers team that finished third in the conference and reached the semifinals of the SBC Championship last season. The Panthers received one first-place vote in the SBC East Division this season and are predicted to finish second.

MT, which received 10 first-place votes in the SBC East Division, had three players earn Preseason All-SBC First-Team accolades. The Blue Raiders won the SBC East Division title in 2011-12 with a perfect 16-0 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. MT returns 10 letter winners from last season, including SBC Preseason First Team selections Ebony Rowe, Icelyn Elie and Kortni Jones.

Rowe, a junior forward, led the SBC in offensive rebounds (5.7), steals (2.4) and field goal percentage (.545) last season. She averaged a double-double as she also brought down 10.1 rebounds a game.

Elie, a senior forward, finished second in offensive rebounding with 3.5 per game, fifth in free throw percentage (.758) and ninth in scoring (13.7). Both Elie and Rowe were First-Team All-SBC selections last season.

Blue Raider senior guard Kortni Jones completed the Preseason All-SBC first-team trio after draining a league-high 115 three-pointers and shooting .350 from beyond the arc last season. She posted 16.8 points per game, second best in conference, and her 1.2 assist to turnover ratio ranked third in the SBC.

UALR sophomore guard Taylor Gault rounded out the Preseason All-SBC first-team after earning SBC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SBC honors last season. She registered 16.0 points per game in 2011-12 and finished in the top-15 in both steals (1.7) and blocks (0.8) per contest.

Gault will look to lead UALR to its third consecutive SBC Tournament title after the Trojans knocked off the Blue Raiders 71-70 in overtime last season in the finals. The 2011-12 Trojans made their third-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and reached the 20-win mark for the sixth-consecutive season. UALR also finished atop the Sun Belt's West Division for the fifth-consecutive year.

Arkansas State received the final first-place vote in the SBC West and was predicted to finish second. The Red Wolves return four starters, including junior forward Jane Morrill who was named to the Preseason All-SBC second-team. Morrill led the team in scoring with 16.2 points per game and also led the team with nearly 5.5 rebounds a game.

In addition to seven regular-season games televised on the Sun Belt Network, ESPN3 will air four contests including Western Kentucky’s matchup against the Blue Raiders on Jan. 27 and South Alabama’s contest against MT on Feb. 20. The SBC Network will also televise two quarterfinal games and both semifinal matchups at the SBC Championship, and the finals will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

Below is a full list of the preseason honors:

2012-13 Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference First Team