Lady Bulldogs Picked 6th in Preseason Poll

Tougaloo, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference has released its 2017-2018 Preseason Poll and All-Conference selections. On the women side, the Lady Bulldogs were picked to finished 6th in this year's campaign.

The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference pre-season basketball rankings are conducted using a panel of head coaches at GCAC schools. Each coach submits a Top-7 with a first-place vote worth 7 points, second place 6, and so on down to 1 point for 7th place. The Lady Bulldogs moved one step up of the 2016-2017 preseason rankings where they were picked to finish last. In the 2016-2017 campaign, the Lady Bulldogs finished 6th with a conference record of 4-8 and overall record of 9-15. The Lady Bulldogs made a run in the 2017 Championship; defeating Edward Waters 52-45 in the quarterfinals before being eliminated in the semifinals by tournament champions Talladega College 69-64.

Tougaloo's Montoria Atkinson was selected to the 2017-2018 Preseason All-Conference Team. Atkinson, a senior forward from Jackson, Miss has been a powerhouse for the Lady Bulldogs since her debut in her freshman season. In the 2016-2017 season, Atkinson led the conference in rebounds with 11.00 rebounds per game. She also had 8.6 points per game. Atkinson is a 3-time GCAC All-Conference selection, 2-time GCAC All-Defensive Team and the 2014-15 GCAC Freshman of the Year.

The Lady Bulldogs, under the leadership of Interim Head Coach Nicholas Judgeware will kick off the 2017-2018 campaign on Thursday, November 2nd as they host the Lady Bearcats of Rust College. Game time is set for 5:30 P.M. in the Dawg Pound.