GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Converse University women's basketball team was tabbed 14th in the 2026 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Preseason Poll as announced by the conference office on Thursday afternoon.
Senior
Tatiana Brown, sophomore
Madison Fileen and freshman
Olivia McKinney were tabbed Preseason Players to Watch.
Brown, a senior from Virginia Beach, Virginia, appeared in 26 games last season, making 24 starts. She led the team in both total scoring, 390 points, and per-game scoring, 15.0 points per game, last season. She also led the Valkyries in total rebounding, 161 rebounds, and per-game rebounding, 6.2 rebounds per game.
Fileen, a sophomore from Monroe, New York, appeared in 27 games last season, making 26 starts. She led the Valkyries with 97 assists last season, 60 more than the second-highest total on the team. Fileen was also the team's third-leading scorer during the 2025-26 campaign, tallying 235 points and recording the fourth-highest per-game scoring average, 8.7 points per game.
McKinney, a freshman from Greenville, played her prep basketball at J.L. Mann High School, earning All-Region honors following her junior season. She also helped her team to a region championship and an Upperstate Championship Game appearance during that same season.
Francis Marion topped the preseason poll with 210 points and six first-place votes. A pair of Northwest Division opponents, Lees-McRae and Belmont Abbey, followed with 206 and 198 points, respectively. They received seven first-place votes and three first-place votes, respectively.
Barton, Chowan and Young Harris followed in fourth, fifth and sixth with 179, 152 and 150 points. UNC Pembroke followed closely behind Young Harris with 147 points in seventh place.
King and Emmanuel placed eighth and ninth. They earned 135 and 104 points, respectively.
Shorter and Ferrum were separated by just one point, 96 vs. 95, in 10th and 11th place.
North Greenville was the final Northwest Division team ahead of the Valkyries with 73 points in 12th place. Mount Olive was the final team above Converse with 68 points in 13th place.
Converse ranked 14th with 49 points.
Southern Wesleyan ranked 15th with 43 points, and Erskine ranked last with the minimum number of points, 15.
The Valkyries tip off the season on Monday, Nov. 9, as they host the Newberry College Wolves at 5:30 P.M. at the Weisiger Center.
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