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SEC Women’s Basketball Opens Nov. 2 With Seven Top-25 Teams; Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes Named Preseason Player of the Year

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Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes dribbles the ball up the court during a game (photo: Vanderbilt Athletics)

The SEC women’s basketball season opens Monday, November 2, and the league starts the year loaded. Seven SEC teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including a nation-best four in the top 10, and seven SEC teams are also listed in the USA Today Coaches Poll, again with four in the top 10.

Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes was named the SEC Preseason Player of the Year in voting by the league’s coaches. Blakes and Texas’ Madison Booker were named Associated Press Preseason All-Americans, while Kentucky’s Clara Strack and South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards also received votes.

The SEC Coaches’ Preseason First Team All-SEC is Clara Strack (Kentucky), MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU), Mikaylah Williams (LSU), Talaysia Cooper (Ole Miss), Aaliyah Chavez (Oklahoma), Joyce Edwards (South Carolina), Tessa Johnson (South Carolina), Madison Booker (Texas), Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt) and Aubrey Galvan (Vanderbilt).

The Second Team includes Florida’s Kiyomi McMiller, Kentucky’s Me’Arah O’Neal, Mississippi State’s Madison Francis, Missouri’s Grace Slaughter, Oklahoma’s Sahara Williams, South Carolina’s Chloe Kitts, Jordan Lee and Ashlyn Watkins, Texas’ Breya Cunningham and Vanderbilt’s Mia Woolfolk.

South Carolina owns the conference’s longest active AP Poll streak at 269 weeks. LSU is next at 97 weeks, followed by Texas (70), Oklahoma (51), Kentucky (42), Ole Miss (24) and Vanderbilt (21). Tennessee has been ranked the most times in league history at 810, ahead of Texas (663), Georgia (560), LSU (461), South Carolina (404), Vanderbilt (368) and Oklahoma (365).

Opening night on Monday, November 2 is headlined by South Carolina vs. Maryland in Paris (ESPN) and North Carolina vs. Oklahoma (ESPN2). The rest of the first slate: Alcorn State at Ole Miss, Lipscomb at Vanderbilt, West Georgia at Georgia, Bucknell at Florida, Morehead State at Kentucky, Duquesne at Tennessee, Southeastern Louisiana at LSU, Queens at Alabama, Alabama State at Auburn, New Orleans at Arkansas, Howard at Missouri and UAPB at Texas A&M.

SEC players also crowd every major preseason watch list, from the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year list to the Ann Meyers Drysdale, Cheryl Miller, Katrina McClain, Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie position awards.

The league’s reach extends to the pros, too: this season’s WNBA Finals include seven players who honed their skills in the SEC. For the Atlanta Dream: DeWanna Bonner (Auburn), Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), Angel Reese (LSU), Te-Hina Paopao (South Carolina), Allisha Gray (South Carolina) and Madina Okot (South Carolina). For the Golden State Valkyries: Laeticia Amihere (South Carolina).

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We Speak Women's College Basketball

NAIA Women’s Basketball Notebook #1

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October 30, 2026

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Marian University women's basketball players in game action during the opening weekend of the 2026 NAIA season

The 2026 NAIA Women’s Basketball season is officially underway! Check out the Top 25 results from the opening weekend below, along with what big games are coming up in the next few weeks.

The Battle for the Red Banner has begun!

Opening Weekend Top 25 vs Top 25 Results

RV St. Francis (Ill.) 38 at RV Indiana Tech 82

RV Friends (Kan.) 47 at No. 18 Hastings (Neb.) 92

No. 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) 84 at RV Indiana Tech 80

RV Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 58 at No. 12 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 59

RV LSU Shreveport (La.) 52 at RV Bethel (Kan.) 66

RV Eastern Oregon 45 at No. 24 Carroll (Mont.) 55

No. 3 Dakota State (S.D.) 87 at No. 23 Oregon Tech 91

RV Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 66 at No. 9 Saint Francis (Ind.) 112

No. 20 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 84 at Campbellsville (Ky.) 79

RV Williams Baptist (Ark.) 54 at No. 4 Bethel (Tenn.) 72

RV Huntington (Ind.) 71 at RV Indiana Tech 70

Top 25 vs Top 25 Upcoming Games | Oct. 30 – Nov. 20

Oct. 30, 12:00 PM — No. 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) at RV Williams Baptist (Ark.)

Oct. 30, 12:00 PM — No. 16 Montana Tech at RV Eastern Oregon

Oct. 30, 2:00 PM — No. 20 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) at No. 4 Bethel (Tenn.)

Oct. 30, 5:00 PM — No. 1 Marian (Ind.) at RV Faulkner (Ala.)

Oct. 30, 8:00 PM — RV Cumberland (Tenn.) at No. 14 Indiana Wesleyan

Oct. 31 — No. 1 Marian (Ind.) at RV William Carey (Miss.)

Oct. 31, 4:00 PM — No. 16 Montana Tech at No. 22 College of Idaho

Nov. 1, 3:00 PM — No. 24 Carroll (Mont.) at RV Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)

Nov. 3, 6:00 PM — No. 20 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) at RV Evangel (Mo.)

Nov. 4, 5:00 PM — RV Friends (Kan.) at RV Mid-America Christian (Okla.)

Nov. 4, 7:00 PM — RV IU South Bend (Ind.) at RV Huntington (Ind.)

Nov. 5, 5:00 PM — No. 25 Spring Arbor (Mich.) at RV Cumberlands (Ky.)

Nov. 6, 1:00 PM — No. 25 Spring Arbor (Mich.) at No. 6 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)

Nov. 6, 2:00 PM — No. 2 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at No. 3 Dakota State (S.D.)

Nov. 6, 3:00 PM — RV Bethel (Ind.) at RV Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)

Nov. 6, 4:00 PM — No. 16 Montana Tech at No. 10 Concordia (Neb.)

Nov. 7, 10:00 AM — No. 2 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at No. 16 Montana Tech

Nov. 7, 12:00 PM — No. 3 Dakota State (S.D.) at No. 10 Concordia (Neb.)

Nov. 7, 4:00 PM — RV Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at RV Corban (Ore.)

Nov. 10, 6:00 PM — RV Indiana Tech at No. 14 Indiana Wesleyan

Nov. 10, 5:30 PM — No. 7 Dordt (Iowa) at No. 3 Dakota State (S.D.)

Nov. 13, 7:00 PM — RV Williams Baptist (Ark.) at No. 20 College of the Ozarks (Mo.)

Nov. 14, 12:00 PM — No. 19 Loyola (La.) at RV William Carey (Miss.)

Nov. 14, 2:00 PM — No. 18 Hastings (Neb.) at No. 2 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)

Nov. 14, 4:00 PM — RV Indiana Tech at No. 9 Saint Francis (Ind.)

Nov. 14, 3:00 PM — RV Columbia (Mo.) at No. 20 College of the Ozarks (Mo.)

Nov. 14, 2:00 PM — No. 23 Oregon Tech at No. 16 Montana Tech

Nov. 14, 6:00 PM — No. 12 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) at RV Corban (Ore.)

Nov. 15, 2:00 PM — No. 1 Marian (Ind.) at RV Cumberlands (Ky.)

Nov. 18, 5:30 PM — RV Bethel (Ind.) at No. 1 Marian (Ind.)

Nov. 18, 5:30 PM — No. 25 Spring Arbor (Mich.) at RV Huntington (Ind.)

PrestoSports Offensive & Defensive Players of the Week — coming in November.

Coaches Top 25 Poll — Preseason poll: October. Next poll: November.

Built for the Next Arena

The next Notebook will feature a new NAIA Women’s Basketball story series that highlights former student-athletes, how they turned lessons from sport into lifelong success, and how they are making an impact beyond the game.

About the NAIA

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small college athletics programs dedicated to character-driven, education-based athletics. Since 1937, the NAIA has balanced high-level competition with holistic student-athlete development through its commitment to The Right Way to Play®. Each year more than 87,000 NAIA student-athletes compete in college athletics, earn over $1.3 billion in financial aid, and pursue opportunities to participate in 30 national championships.

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