RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference (GAC) has released the 2026-27 Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. Listed at number ten on the poll are the Muleriders, led by third-year head coach Darrick Matthews.
 
The Blue and Gold ended up being placed at tenth after the unit was awarded 34 points from coaches' votes from around the conference.
 
In the 2025-26 campaign, Southern Arkansas had a fantastic beginning to the year, as the group went into the Christmas break with an overall record of 8-3, with a conference record of 4-1. To start the second half of the season, the Muleriders ran into a rough stretch of narrow losses in the league, ending up at 8-14 in conference play and missing the GAC Tournament.
 
Returning for the Muleriders are the unit's top four scorers, as Blythe Crawley, Hope Bump, and Kennedy Moss all return for their sophomore campaigns while Kadia Ward makes her way back for her senior season.
 
Crawley returns after leading the team in scoring with 323 points and 11.5 points per game.
 
Returning with the most rebounds, KD Ward returns after tallying 153 boards last year (24 ORB | 129 DRB).
 
The tenth-place ranking marks the second straight season that the group was voted in tenth, but remains the highest preseason ranking for SAU Women's Basketball in the Darrick Matthews era. In Coach Matthews' inaugural season as the Muleriders' head coach, Southern Arkansas was picked to finish eleventh in the conference, but went on to be the seventh seed in the league tournament at the end of the season.
 
Voted in first place for the preseason poll are the Harding Lady Bisons, who are the lone team representing the GAC in the WBCA Preseason Ranking, as the unit is receiving votes in that poll. Harding claims first place after receiving 120 total points and ten of the twelve first-place votes.
 
Claiming two of the twelve first-place votes is the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm. SEOSU is listed at number two in the rankings after also claiming 108 total points.
 
The remainder of the top four were the two Oklahoma units in the western part of the state, as Southwestern Oklahoma State has been picked third (87 points) and the reigning conference tournament champions in Northwestern Oklahoma State have been picked fourth (82 points).
 
The Natural State fills out the remaining top six, with Henderson State at fifth (80 points) and Arkansas Tech in sixth (73 points).
 
The remainder of the poll is listed as follows: Southern Nazarene (7^th | 69 points), East Central (8^th | 52 points), Oklahoma Baptist (9^th | 47 points), Southern Arkansas (10^th | 34 points), Ouachita Baptist (11^th | 26 points), and Arkansas-Monticello (12^th | 14 points).
 
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