Lady Bulldogs picked sixth in Mid-South preseason hoops poll

Former Lebanon star London Elie joins team

The Cumberland women’s basketball team was selected sixth in the Mid-South Conference for 2012-13 in a vote of league coaches announced over the weekend.

Fourth-year head coach Jeremy Lewis returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last season’s team that finished 15-14 overall, 10-6 in the TranSouth Conference. The Lady Bulldogs won 12 of their last 16 regular season contests after a slow start to the campaign.

Seniors Simone Ryan, Jessica Pace, Samantha Harper, Yalonda Davis and Madison Pavan lead a club that features 11 upperclassmen. Juniors Casie Cowan and Stefanía Ibague along with sophomores Tasia Blue, Katie Smith all returns from last year’s club.

Lewis has added four transfers to this year’s roster – seniors Briannica Tye and Josette Campbell, both from NCAA Division I Robert Morris University, along with London Elie, a former Lebanon High School star who played three years at Trevecca Nazarene, and junior college All-American TaCouya Allen. Freshmen Hailey Speck, Andrea Morrisett, Ngodoo Itiavkase and Calamity Jane Coley are all part of the roster as well.

Shawnee State was picked as the league favorite, picking up 96 total points and eight first-place votes. The Bears shared the MSC regular season title last season with a 14-2 conference mark and finished with a 28-6 overall record, losing in the second round of the NAIA National Championships.

Georgetown College recorded 84 total points and two first-place votes, while Campbellsville registered 80 points and the remaining first-place vote. Lindsey Wilson and the University of the Cumberlands tied for fourth with 74 points, followed by Cumberland and then St. Catharine, which received 51 total points.

Rio Grande, Pikeville, Virginia-Wise and Bluefield rounded out the poll. Cumberland will open its 2012-13 season this Sunday with a 2 p.m. contest versus Lindenwood-Belleville.

Men's hoops picked seventh in MSC Preseason Poll

The Cumberland men’s basketball team was picked seventh in the Mid-South Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll for 2012-13 as announced by the league office over the weekend.

Head coach Lonnie Thompson, entering his 11th season with the Bulldogs, returns seven letterwinners and three starters from last year’s 22-9 club that finished second with an 11-5 record in the TranSouth Conference. Seniors Jerret Towns, Charles Stewart and Lamar Brinkley join juniors Terry Williams and Ryan Slusher along with sophomores Daniel McFadden and Moritz Dern as returning players for CU.

Redshirt freshmen Cameron Prather and Tajadeen Abdul-Kaudeyr and senior transfers Elijah Gilles (Pfeiffer University) and Creshaun Holt (Mountain State) as well as junior transfers Kenny Striplin (Mountain State), Lester Gude (Columbia State CC), E.J. Perry (Volunteer State CC) and Brian Blackmon (Southwest Tennessee CC) form the rest of Thompson’s squad for the upcoming campaign.

Georgetown College edged Pikeville for first place in the coaches’ voting. The Tigers received five first-place votes and 85 total points, with the Bears right behind with four first-place votes and 80 points. Georgetown placed second during the Mid-South regular season race last season before making a run to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Championships – the best finish for an MSC team.

Lindsey Wilson and the University of the Cumberlands each picked up one first-place vote, with LWC recording 74 points and UC with 68 points. Campbellsville  and St. Catharine were picked fifth and sixth, respectively, with 57 and 52 points, just ahead of the Bulldogs, who finished with 46 points.

The University of Rio Grande, Shawnee State, Virginia-Wise and Bluefield rounded out the poll.

Cumberland will begin the season Nov. 2-3 at the Jimmy Faulkner Classic in Montgomery, Ala., taking on host Faulkner and Auburn-Montgomery.