NEW ORLEANS – Coming off a season highlighted by a 10-win improvement from the previous year that tied for eighth best among Division I programs in the nation, University of South Alabama women's basketball was picked fourth in the 2016-17 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll as announced by the league office on Tuesday.  The Jaguars' junior guard Marquita Daniels was selected to the preseason all-conference first team while junior center Chyna Ellis was selected to the second team.
 
The fourth-place prediction is the highest ever for the Jaguars under fourth-year head coach Terry Fowler.  Last year USA was picked to finish 10th and surpassed the expectations of the conference's coaches, ending up in fifth place.  Fowler returns from last season's squad three upperclassmen starters (senior guard Colby Davis, Daniels and Ellis) and seven of the top nine scorers.
 
Troy was selected to finish first in the coaches' preseason poll with three first-place votes and 125 points.  Little Rock (121 points and five first-place votes) finished second in the poll while Texas-Arlington had 118 points to go along with three-first place votes for third.  Louisiana-Lafayette (101 points) was picked to finish in fifth.
 
Daniels is the first Jag to be named to the Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt Conference since Shakira Nettles in the 2009-10 season and the second non-senior to earn the preseason nod.  Whitney Woodard garnered the preseason selection as a sophomore for the 2004-05 campaign. 
 
In her second season in Mobile as a starter, Daniels led the Jaguars in scoring with 11.3 points to rank 17th in the conference.  She also ended the season ranked third in the league in steals with 2.3 per game.  She has the ninth-highest scoring average and second-best steals per game among returning league players.
 
Daniels' 61 steals were third-most in a season by a sophomore in program history.  She also grabbed 3.5 rebounds per contest and was third on the team in assists (53). Scoring double figures 16 times, she led the Jaguars in scoring in 13 games while also pacing the team in steals on 16 occasions.
 
Daniels was named the Sun Belt Conference's Student-Athlete of the Week after leading the Jaguars to wins on the road to Troy (75-71) and at home against Appalachian State (71-55), averaging 19.5 ppg and 4.0 rpg, while also adding five assists and three steals in her two games. Daniels posted the first double-double of her career with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Arkansas State and had a season-high 26 points against UL Lafayette.
 
Ellis continued to elevate herself as one of the top players in the conference a year ago. She earned third-team all-conference accolades and became the first Jaguar to be selected as the league's defensive student-athlete of the year. She started 29 of the 30 games played in and averaged 8.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 24.5 minutes of action per outing.
 
Ranked third on the team in scoring, Ellis also led the club on the glass. She topped the Sun Belt and ranked 22nd in Division I in blocks with 2.73 per game, fifth-most among sophomores. Her 82 blocks were four shy of tying the school's single season record.  She also had two or more rejections in 26 games, a stretch of 16-consecutive multi-block games during the season and five or more blocks six times during the year.
 
Ellis shot 40.4 percent from the field and recorded five double-doubles on the year after recording 10 double-figure scoring outings and eight double-figure rebounding outings.  She scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down 12 rebounds at Georgia State on 7-of-14 shooting. She also had double-doubles against Spring Hill, at UL Lafayette, at UT Arlington and at Texas State.
 
2016-17 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll
First-place votes in parentheses
1. Troy (3) - 125 pts
2. Little Rock (5) - 121 pts
3. UT Arlington (3) - 118 pts
4. South Alabama - 109 pts
5. UL Lafayette - 101 pts
6. Texas State - 81 pts
7. Arkansas State - 80 pts
8. Appalachian State (1) - 64 pts
9. Georgia State - 52 pts
10. Georgia Southern - 39 pts
11. Coastal Carolina - 26 pts
12. Louisiana-Monroe - 20 pts
 
Preseason First Team All-Conference
Kaitlyn Pratt (Little Rock, Senior, Forward)
Angel McGowan (Georgia Southern, Senior, Guard)
Marquita Daniels (South Alabama, Junior, Guard)
Rebekah VanDijk (UT Arlington, Junior, Center)
Caitlyn Ramirez (Troy, Senior, Forward)
 
Preseason Second Team All-Conference
Madi Story (Appalachian State, Junior, Guard)
Sharde' Collins (Little Rock, Senior, Guard)
Makeba Ponder (Georgia State, Junior, Guard)
Chyna Ellis (South Alabama, Junior, Center)
Cierra Johnson (UT Arlington, Junior, Guard)
 
Preseason Third Team All-Conference
Patrice Butler (Georgia Southern, Senior, Center)
Simone Fields (UL Lafayette, Junior, Forward)
Erin Peoples (Texas State, Senior, Guard)
Kaitlin Walla (Texas State, Junior, Guard)
ArJae' Saunders (Troy, Senior, Guard)
 
Preseason Player of the Year
Rebekah VanDijk (UT Arlington, Junior, Center)

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).