FRIDAY at 3:00 pm vs Albany State - LIVE STATS
SATURDAY at 11:00 am vs Fort Valley State - LIVE STATS 

UWF opens its 39th season of women's basketball in the same location as the past two seasons - Valdosta, Ga. The Argos will face Albany State on Friday at 3 pm CT and Fort Valley State on Saturday at 11 am CT. Both games will be played at The Complex on the VSU campus with live statistics available for those who aren't able to make it to the games.

This will be the seventh season under the direction of Stephanie Lawrence Yelton. The 1996 North Carolina graduate has a 108-70 record at UWF, which includes three NCAA Tournaments in the last five seasons and two-consecutive GSC title game appearances.

UWF went 18-12 in 2017-18 and 11-9 in league play as the Argos advanced to the GSC Championship game for the second-straight season.  The Argos return  two starters and four letterwinners from 2017-18, in addition to 2017 All-America Toni Brewer, who redshirted last season.

ABOUT FORT VALLEY STATE
* Fort Valley State enters the season following a 4-23 campaign in 2017-18.  Le'Coe Willingham begins her second year at the helm of the Wildcats as she was hired on July 17, 2017. Willingham was a 10-year veteran of the WNBA and served as assistant coach at Tennessee State.  She was a three-time All-SEC selection at Auburn.  
* Leading scorer Alicia Franklin returns for 2018-19 after she averaged 16.0 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game, while recording 50 assists and 37 steals.  Also returning for the Wildcats is Nola Carter, who finished second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and led the team in rebounding at 8.1 per game.  She had a team-high 61 assists with 33 steals.  In all, FVSU's five leading scorers from a year ago all return.
 
ABOUT ALBANY STATE
* Albany State enters after a 17-12 campaign in 2017-18 and a 12-5 mark in the SIAC.  The Golden Rams are under the direction of Robert Skinner and he welcomes back second leading scorer Alexis Smith who averaged 12.7 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game a season ago, while recording a team-high 64 assists and 52 steals, with 27 blocks.  Also returning is Alexandria James who posted 8.8 points per contest.

GSC FEATURES 20-GAME SCHEDULE
* The 2018-19 Gulf South Conference schedule will have teams play 20 league games for the second-consecutive season. Each of the 13 teams will play the other 12 once, with eight opponents in a home-and-away series.
* UWF's single-game opponents are its first four league games - Christian Brothers and Union at home and UAH and Lee on the road. 

UWF PICKED THIRD IN GSC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
* The UWF women's basketball team received one first-place vote and was picked to finish third in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll. 
* UWF is coming off an 18-12 2017-18 campaign that saw the Argonauts go 11-9 in conference play before advancing to the GSC Championship game for the second-consecutive season.
* Defending regular-season and tournament champion Union was picked first with 10 first-place votes and 142 total points. Valdosta State received two first-place votes and 124 points, just three ahead of UWF's 121.
* Lee was fourth with 115 points, while West Georgia, West Alabama and Delta State were in a close group of fifth through seventh. Alabama Huntsville and Christian Brothers tied for eighth, followed by Mississippi College, Auburn-Montgomery, Shorter and Montevallo.

BREWER, NIEMAN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-GSC
* Seniors Toni Brewer and Halee Nieman were each named to the 5-person preseason All-GSC team in a vote by the league's head coaches.
* Brewer, who redshirted in 2017-18, was an Honorable Mention All-America selection as a junior in 2016-17 when she averaged 13.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, while registering 19 double-doubles. The Huntsville, Alabama native enters her final season with 1,149 points and 866 rebounds.
* Nieman was a Second Team All-GSC selection last year and is the second-leading returning scorer in the league with 14.7 points per game. She had five double-doubles and scored in double figures in 23 times.

YELTON ENTERS SEVENTH SEASON IN PENSACOLA
* UWF head coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton enters her seventh season at UWF in 2018-19 and has a 108-70 overall record. Her 108 wins rank third in program history.
* The Argonauts have five-consecutive winning seasons and have averaged 20.4 wins in those five years.
* The 102 wins in the last five seasons are the most in any 5-year stretch in program history.

YELTON NAMED TO WBCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
* UWF head coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton was voted onto the WBCA Board of Directors as one of two Division II representatives in the summer. The BOD has eight members of the Executive Committee and 21 board members from all levels of women's college basketball.
* This is her first stint with the board and adds to her resume that includes serving on the NCAA South Region Advisory Committee and as a voter on the WBCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.

FORMER DIVISION I HEAD COACH JOINS UWF COACHING STAFF
* UWF head coach Stephanie Lawrence Yelton added former Presbyterian head coach Todd Steelman to her staff in the off season. The Blue Hose won 25 games overall and 19 Big South Conference contests during his time at the Clinton, S.C. school.
* Former assistant coach LaQuanda Quick was named the head coach at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C.