NEW ORLEANSÂ -- Jada Lewis was voted to the preseason All-Sun Belt First Team and Georgia State was picked sixth in the preseason poll announced by the Sun Belt Conference Wednesday morning.
A redshirt junior from Powder Springs, Ga., Lewis bounced back in a huge way in 2018-19, earning second team All-Sun Belt honors after missing nearly all of the previous season due to injury. Lewis led the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game and also led the team in assists and was tied for the lead in steals. She provided late-game heroics with both a go-ahead 3-pointer and game-winning layup at Arkansas State on Feb. 28.
Jada Lewis contributed right away as a freshman and was named the 2016-17 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. She led Georgia State in scoring as a freshman, averaging 11.6 points per game and she led the Panthers in assists with 1.9 per game. In Sun Belt play, Lewis averaged 13.2 points per game to rank 11th in the conference.
GSU was picked sixth in the preseason poll. The Panthers were picked 10th last season but finished fourth in the final conference standings.
Head coach Gene Hill lost seven players from last year's team and will have 11 new faces on the bench this season.
"Last year was an exciting first year. We were able to change the environment and the culture around the program," Hill said. "Now this year we have 11 newcomers so we almost have to repeat that process again and it's going to be a day-by-day process. We're really excited about the talent and the players that we have this season and we're looking forward to continuing to build this program."
Georgia State opens up the 2019-20 regular season at home Tuesday against Toledo at 6 p.m.
2019-20 Conference Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll
first-place votes in parentheses
1. Little Rock (6) - 127 pts
2. Troy (4) - 123 pts
3. UTA (1) - 120 pts
4. South Alabama (1) - 119 pts
5. Appalachian State - 100 pts
6. Georgia State - 73 pts
7. Coastal Carolina - 66 pts
8. Louisiana - 64 pts
9. Texas State - 59 pts
10. Arkansas State - 44 pts
11. Georgia Southern - 26 pts
12. ULM - 15 pts
Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team
DJ Williams, Coastal Carolina (Senior, Guard, Moreno Valley, Calif.)
Jada Lewis, Georgia State (RS-Junior, Guard, Power Springs, Ga.)
Kyra Collier, Little Rock (Senior, Guard, N. Little Rock, Ark.)
Savannah Jones, South Alabama (RS-Junior, Guard, Ocean Springs, Miss.)
Antoinette Lewis, South Alabama (Junior, Forward, Memphis, Tenn.)
