JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Atlantic Sun Conference announced its 2025-26 Women's Basketball preseason awards on Friday featuring individual honors and polls selected by the league's 12 head coaches and members of the media. FGCU is favored to capture this year's league crown after receiving 42 first-place votes across both preseason polls.
The Eagles went 30-4 overall last season and hoisted the ASUN Tournament Championship trophy for the 12th time in program history. FGCU garnered six first-place votes in the coaches poll and topped the rankings with 128 points. Central Arkansas ranked second in both the coaches and media polls after reaching the ASUN Championship Final for the second season in a row under Head Coach Tony Kemper.
After being named the ASUN Newcomer of the Year and earning a First Team All-ASUN selection last season, Stetson's Cameron Thomas earned the 2025-26 Preseason Player of the Year recognition. The senior guard led the Hatters and ranked second in the league with 17.1 points per game while her 530 total points topped the conference. She shot 49.4% from the field and 39.7% from three-point range and scored north of 20 points in 11 contests.
Central Arkansas' Bree Stephens was voted the the 2025-26 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, the Townsville, Australia, native led the conference with 79 blocks in 33 games and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Both her total blocks and blocks per game (5.03) ranked 10th in the nations and her 166 defensive rebounds were sixth-most in the ASUN.
2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. FGCU (6) 128
2. Central Arkansas (3) 124
3. Stetson (1) 118
4. Lipscomb 98
5. EKU (1) 97
6. North Alabama 77
7. Jacksonville 73
8. Austin Peay 61
9. Bellarmine 49
10. West Georgia 48
11. Queens (1) 37
12. North Florida 26
First-place votes in parentheses
2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
1. FGCU (36) 474
2. Central Arkansas 416
3. Lipscomb 370
4. EKU (2) 368
5. Stetson 308
6. North Alabama 240
7. Jacksonville 238
8. Bellarmine 216
9. Austin Peay 172
10. West Georgia 146
11. North Florida 88
12. Queens 84
First-place votes in parentheses
2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason All-ASUN Team
Cameron Thomas, Stetson^
Anovia Sheals, Austin Peay^
Bree Stephens, Central Arkansas^
Liz Freihofer, EKU^
Priscilla Williams, Jacksonville^
Cerina Rolle, FGCU
Molly Heard, Lipscomb
Aleah Sorrentino, Stetson
Destiny Jones, West Georgia
Sydne Tolbert, West Georgia
^ - denotes a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-ASUN Team