ORLANDO, Fla. - Embry-Riddle women's basketball was voted as the preseason favorite in the 2026-27 Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Preseason Coaches Poll, as announced by the league office on Thursday afternoon.
The Eagles received five of the 10 possible first-place votes, narrowly edging Tampa, which earned three first-place votes and 20 total points. Eckerd and Nova Southeastern each received first-place votes, with NSU earning two, as the teams tied for third with 30 points apiece.
Head Coach
Lisa Wilson, back for her 13th season, has helped lead the Eagles to a top-two finish in the SSC in back-to-back seasons. In 2024-25, ERAU won both the regular season and tournament championship with a 17-3 record in conference play and 27-5 overall record. Last season, the Blue and Gold came within a game of another regular season championship as they posted a 16-4 record within the conference and advanced to their third consecutive national tournament.
Embry-Riddle returns seven players from last year's roster, including redshirt sophomore
Eliana Sheplee. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was selected as the SSC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Conference, and First Team All-Region player after a record-breaking season where she averaged 21.5 points, including a 41-point outing against Lynn in the opening round of the SSC tournament. In addition to Sheplee, the Eagles bring back
Jareah Branch,
Alyssa Brasko,
Maya Collins,
Bianca Negreiros,
Sydney Roufosse, and
Anye' Staton.
ERAU will begin their season in just a couple of weeks as they face Santa Fe on November 4 at 6 p.m. in a scrimmage before the regular season gets started on November 10 against Southeastern with another 6 p.m. tipoff.
The full preseason poll results are below. Coaches cannot vote for their own teams, and points are then calculated (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, with first-place votes in parentheses).
2026-27 SSC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
| Rank |
School |
Points |
| 1 |
Embry-Riddle |
18 (5) |
| 2 |
Tampa |
20 (3) |
| 3 |
Eckerd |
30 (1) |
|
Nova Southeastern |
30 (2) |
| 5 |
Florida Southern |
44 |
| 6 |
Lynn |
62 |
| 7 |
Palm Beach Atlantic |
66 |
| 8 |
Barry |
74 |
| 9 |
Florida Tech |
78 |
| 10 |
Rollins |
82 |
| 11 |
Saint Leo |
91 |
