SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference announced its women’s basketball preseason coaches poll on Thursday, Oct. 27, and Elon was picked to finish third in the league, its highest preseason ranking since joining the league. In addition, juniors Ali Ford and Kelsey Evans were two of 10 players selected to the SoCon Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team.
 
The Phoenix earned 76 total points to finish third behind Appalachian State (88 points) and preseason favorite Chattanooga (99 points). ASU earned two first place votes in the preseason poll, while UTC earned nine. Elon was selected fourth overall in the media poll on Friday, Oct. 28, behind Samford, Appalachian State and Chattanooga.
 
A Morganton, N.C., native, Ford enters the 2011-12 season with 1,063 career points, good for 18th all-time in Elon women’s basketball history. Ford was second in the league in scoring last season at 17.1 points per game and was first in three-point field goals made with 92. Ford registered a career-high 35 points against USC Upstate on March 17 in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational after tying a career-high with seven three-point field goals. Ford was a second-team all-league selection by the SoCon media last year and an all-league selection by the head coaches. In addition, Ford was named to the SoCon All-Tournament Team and was an all-state selection last season. Ford enters this season ranked second all-time in Elon history with 173 three-point field goals and second all-time with 538 three-point field goal attempts.
 
Evans had a stellar sophomore campaign for the Phoenix last season, leading the SoCon in rebounding at 9.2 per game and finishing second in blocked shots at 2.1 per game. A native of Raleigh, N.C., Evans notched a league-best 10 double-doubles last season and tallied a total of five games with five blocked shots. Evans was named the SoCon Player of the Week on Feb. 1 last season after averaging 15.0 points and 11.3 rebounds over a three-game stretch against Appalachian State, Southern Virginia and Western Carolina. She pulled down a career-high 16 boards against Appalachian State on Jan. 24 and scored a career-high 24 points at Western Carolina on Jan. 29. Evans also finished 10th in the conference in field-goal percentage after shooting 44.9 percent from the field on the year. Evans enters the 2011-12 season ranked third all-time in Elon history with 125 blocked shots.
 
Following its Nov. 6 exhibition game against Wingate in Alumni Gym, the Phoenix opens the regular season on Nov. 12 when it hosts Virginia Union at 2 p.m.
 
2011-12 SoCon Women’s Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll

Team (1st Place Votes)	Total Points
1. Chattanooga (9)	99
2. Appalachian State (2)	88
3. Elon	76
4. Samford	71
5. Davidson	67
6. Furman	55
7. Georgia Southern	51
8. UNCG	35
9. Western Carolina	27
10. College of Charleston	21
11. Wofford	15

2011-12 SoCon Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Anna Freeman, Appalachian State
Sophia Alexandravicius, Davidson
Laura Murray, Davidson
Kelsey Evans, Elon
Ali Ford, Elon
Kaitlyn Murphy, Furman
Meredith Frye, Georgia Southern
Kayla Christopher, Chattanooga
Whitney Hood, Chattanooga
April Moorhouse, Wofford

SoCon Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year
Sophia Alexandravicius, Davidson

2011-12 SoCon Women’s Basketball Media Preseason Poll

Team (1st Place Votes)	Total Points
1. Chattanooga (12)	228
2. Appalachian State (8)	221
3. Samford (1)	191
4. Elon	170
5. Furman (1)	133
6. Davidson	132
7. Georgia Southern	110
8. UNCG	95
9. College of Charleston	78
10. Western Carolina	63
11. Wofford	31