AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Augusta State Lady Jaguars were picked to finish seventh in a preseason poll of the Peach Belt Conference’s head coaches, according to a release Wednesday afternoon from the league office.

ASU, coming off a 20-10 season and its third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last six years, returns three starters and 10 letterwinners from last season’s squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.

Peach Belt Conference co-champions last season, the Lady Jaguars are now under the direction of first-year head coach Tes Sobomehin. She was appointed the seventh head coach in school history on June 24, 2008. ASU returns six of its top seven scorers, including juniors Jasmine Godwin and Nicole Mealing, who averaged 10.0 and 9.8 points per game last season, respectively.

In the closest vote in conference history, USC Aiken was picked as the team to beat in the PBC. USCA received four first-place votes and 90 total points, just one ahead of Clayton State and four in front of Francis Marion. Columbus State was fourth in the voting with Lander fifth and North Georgia sixth. Augusta State, Armstrong Atlantic State, GCSU, UNC Pembroke and Georgia Southwestern rounded out the voting.

The PBC regular season begins Nov. 15 and continues through the 2009 PBC Tournament, March 3-8 in Aiken, S.C.

The preseason poll is listed below. Teams were given 11 points for a first-place vote, 10 for second and so on.

2008-09 Peach Belt Conference
Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll

1.  USC Aiken                           90
2.  Clayton State                       89
3.  Francis Marion                      86
4.  Columbus State                      76
5.  Lander                              55
6.  North Georgia                       51
7.  AUGUSTA STATE                       45
8.  Armstrong Atlantic State            44
9.  Georgia College & State             38
10. UNC Pembroke                        21
11. Georgia Southwestern                10