Flying Queens Tabbed First in 24-25 SAC Women's Hoops Preseason Poll

The Sooner Athletic Conference has released the 2024-2025 Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, and the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens were picked to finish first in the Sooner Athletic Conference this season.
 
The Flying Queens received 142 votes including 10 first-place votes, followed by Mid-America Christian (Okla.) who received 127 votes and one first-place vote. Langston was picked to finished third with 120 votes and one first-place votes.
 
After navigating last season without their veteran leader in Kaitlyn Jerden, Head Coach Jason Cooper wasn't sure what to expect considering his group was young and inexperienced.
 
Instead, we witnessed the development of Megan Nestor – the reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Year who earned NAIA Third Team All-American honors in her sophomore season and broke the Flying Queens single-season rebounding record with 417 rebounds last year. Nestor averaged 15.8 points per game, 13. 5 rebounds per game, and shot 56% from the floor last season.
 
We saw the growth and leadership from the Queen's backcourt duo of Linda Brice and Emily Sigala. Brice was named an NCCAA All-Region Third Team and SAC All-Conference Third Team last season. Sigala led the Flying Queens with 4.7 assists per game working as the team's floor general and making sure everyone knows where to be at all times.
 
We saw the emergence of two true freshmen, Bobbie Fouquet and Peyton North, over exceed year-one expectations to become consistent rotational pieces for the Queens. Fouquet was the SAC Freshman of the Year and a SAC Honorable Mention recipient averaging 10.3 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game. North operated as the Queens "sixth man" at times, proving to Coach Cooper that she can be trusted as a point guard to protect the ball in crucial moments of the game.
 
The scary part for the Sooner Athletic Conference is all of these pieces have returned, with the addition of a few other returners (Kinga Stachowska and Jadyn Trusler) transfers (Ksenjia Dokic, Teodora Popovic, Daizjia Oages, and Charlie Wroe) and freshmen (Brooklyn Hurtado).
 
The entire SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll is as followed:
 
1.Wayland Baptist – 142 (10)
2.Mid-America Christian – 127 (1)
3.Langston – 120 (1)
4.College of the Ozarks – 108 (1)
5.Texas Wesleyan – 98
6.Nelson – 83
7.John Brown – 80
8.Southwestern Christian – 65
9.Oklahoma City – 64
10.Science and Arts (Okla.) – 52
11.UNT- Dallas – 34
12.Oklahoma Panhandle State – 23
13.Central Christian – 18
 
For the full Sooner Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Poll release, please visit here.
 
The Flying Queens will play three preseason scrimmages (at West Texas A&M October 8^th, at South Plains College October 26th and at home against Odessa College October 28th) before their 2024-25 regular season opener on the road at Arlington Baptist University Friday, November 1^st at 3:00 PM.