Conference coaches tabbed the Wildcats to finish fifth. But they also see 6-foot-4 junior Sophia Aleksandravicius as the odds-on favorite to be the top player in the league this season, and they see Hopewell High grad Hannah Early as a player with the potential to be the conference's best freshman. Add in sophomore point guard Laura Murray, a second-team preseason all-conference pick, and 6-foot senior Kristen Johnsen, who started all 31 games last year, and it seems the expectations are justified.
"I expect us to finish higher than fifth," said Aleksandravicius, who was dominant in the Wildcats' 82-67 exhibition victory against Winston-Salem State last week with 13 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots. The blocked shot total would have been a school record if the game were not an exhibition.
"There's no reason we can't win the Southern Conference Tournament," she said.
While Aleksandravicius lived up to her preseason billing in the exhibition, so did Early and Murray, who combined for 33 second-half points against Winston-Salem State. Murray finished with 27 points, while Early added 23, including 11 straight as Davidson pulled away from a 52-44 second-half lead. The duo combined to make 17 of 27 shots.
Star power
Aleksandravicius was a first-team all-conference player last season, averaging 16.5 points and nine rebounds per game. One publication had her listed as a third-team mid-major college All-American. She looks to improve on last year's campaign in which she set Davidson single-season records with 511 points, 192 field goals, 123 free throws and 95 blocked shots. She is already the school's career leader in blocked shots with 144.
Murray, last year's SoCon Freshman of the Year, averaged 11.6 points per contest and was the top scorer among first-year players in the conference.
Johnsen, meanwhile, averaged 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds last year and shot better than 50 percent from the field.
Quick hits
The Wildcats were 8-12 in the Southern Conference a year ago, beginning the conference season with back-to-back one-point losses — 61-60 vs. Elon and 59-58 against UNC Greensboro. Two other conference losses were by margins of five and three points. ... The Wildcats have a winning record in 18 years of Southern Conference play, but have never won a SoCon regular season title or a conference tournament title. The team's lone post-season berth came after the 2006-07 season, when the team went 23-9 and lost to Alabama-Birmingham 78-71 in a first-round NIT game. ... The team's home opener is Monday, Nov. 14, when the Wildcats host Mercer in a 7 p.m. game at Belk Arena.
