COLUMBUS, Ga. | Following a 25-win season and a Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship, the Columbus State University Women's Basketball team has been picked to finish third in the 2026-27 PBC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Cougars received 83 points and two first-place votes, finishing behind preseason favorite Augusta, which received 95 points and seven first-place votes, and North Georgia with 86 points and one first-place vote. USC Beaufort followed CSU in fourth with 81 points and one first-place vote.
Columbus State enters the 2026-27 campaign after posting a 25-5 overall record and an 18-2 mark in conference play last season. The Cougars captured the PBC regular-season championship, advanced to the semifinals of the PBC Tournament, and earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. CSU closed the regular season with 12 consecutive victories and won 19 of its final 21 regular-season contests.
The Cougars return several key pieces from last season's championship team, including Alana Hankerson and Samara Saunders. Hankerson appeared in 29 games and averaged 10.9 points per game while shooting 40.1 percent from the field and connecting on 59 three-pointers at a 32.2 percent clip.
Saunders appeared in 29 games with 27 starts, averaging 9.2 points per game. She scored 267 points and shot an efficient 52.3 percent from the field, connecting on 103 of her 197 attempts.
Columbus State will look to build on a 2025-26 campaign that featured several individual accolades under Head Women's Basketball Coach Matt Houser. Letiya Reeves was named the PBC Player of the Year and earned First Team All-PBC and D2CCA All-Southeast Region First Team honors after averaging 17.8 points per game. Reeves played for Houser from 2022 through 2026, earning three First Team All-PBC selections and two D2CCA All-Southeast Region Team selections during her career.
Houser was named the 2025-26 PBC Coach of the Year after guiding Columbus State to the PBC regular-season championship and a national ranking as high as No. 8, the program's highest ranking in more than a decade.
Augusta sits atop the preseason poll with 95 points and seven first-place votes, followed by North Georgia with 86 points. Columbus State received 83 points, USC Beaufort earned 81, and Middle Georgia rounded out the top five with 65.
GCSU was selected sixth with 42 points, followed by Clayton State with 36, Flagler with 35, Georgia Southwestern with 31, Lander with 29, and USC Aiken with 22.
The Cougars will begin their preseason schedule on Saturday, Oct. 24, with a scrimmage on the road against Clark Atlanta University at L.S. Epps Gymnasium at 1:30 p.m. Columbus State will open its home schedule on Monday, Nov. 9, against the University of West Alabama at 5:30 p.m.
