High Point and Radford University are the favorites in this upcoming season’s Big South women’s basketball.
For the first time since 2022-23 and just the third time in league history, two schools tied for the top spot in the Big South Conference’s annual women’s basketball preseason poll.
Two-time defending champion High Point along with Radford are the co-favorites entering the 2026-27 campaign, the conference announced this past week during media days in Johnson City, Tennessee.
High Point is the reigning Big South Regular-Season and Conference Champion, and Radford was last year’s Tournament Runner-up. Each team finished with 75 points and four first-place votes from the voting panel of head coaches.
The Panthers return seven players from 2025-26, while the Highlanders also have seven players back from a squad that advanced to the second round of the WNIT. Radford is in the top spot for the first time since 2019-20 (14th time overall). Longwood was third in the women’s poll with 63 points, ahead of fourth-place Gardner-Webb (43 points).
UNC Asheville and Winthrop tied for fifth in the polling with 41 points, with the Bulldogs receiving the remaining first-place vote. USC Upstate landed in the seventh position with 36 points, with Presbyterian College in eighth-place (18 points). Charleston Southern finished in the ninth and final position with 13 points.
Earlier this year, was named the sixth head coach in High Point University women’s basketball history. He arrives at High Point after spending four total seasons on staff at Murray State, where he most recently served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator during the 2025-26 season.
Radford finished 23-13 last season with an appearance in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
Radford forward Georgia Simonsen (Fairfax, Va.) has been unanimously voted the 2026-27 Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches. Simonsen received the maximum eight first-place votes and 80 points in the voting.
Simonsen was the 2025-26 Big South Freshman of the Year in addition to receiving Second-Team All-Conference accolades. She was the fifth Highlander to be named Big South Freshman of the Year, and she also earned a spot on the Big South All-Tournament Team after averaging 14.7 points and 6.7 rebounds during Radford’s run to the Championship game.
Simonsen was a seven-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree last season and led the conference with 40 blocks. She averaged 11.4 points per game to rank 11th in the league, while her 6.5 rebounds per game ranked 10th highest in the circuit. Simonsen started 32 of her 36 appearances last year and scored in double figures 23 times.
She joined Coach McGuire at Media Days this past week in Johnson City.
She led all Big South freshmen in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks, and was one of 10 Big South players to have at least three double-doubles in conference play – the only freshman with this achievement.
Simonsen, who posted a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Highlanders’ WNIT victory over Morehead State, earned the top spot on the preseason All-Conference team.
Her teammate, senior guard Cate Carlson, was named to the preseason second-team.
Carlson also appeared with Coach McGuire at Big South Media Days.
As a junior, Carlson played the second-most minutes on the team with 982 total and set new career season highs for points (328), rebounds (145), assists (41), and minutes.
Radford opens the season Nov. 2 at Clemson.
