RICHARDSON, Texas – In the preseason poll for the Lone Star Conference, the St. Mary's University Women's Basketball team has been voted to finish seventh for the 2026-27 season.
 
The Rattlers received 540 points and the league's coaches, communications personnel and media put the Rattlers in the top-10 for the first time since 2021.
 
Texas Woman's is predicted to win its fifth-straight regular season title, garnering 31 of the 51 first-place votes and 828 points, while West Texas A&M received 10 first-place nods and 794 points to finish second. UT Tyler (9), Lubbock Christian and Eastern New Mexico (1) rounded out the top five, while Angelo State edged out the Rattlers for sixth with 594 points.
 
St. Mary's begins the 2026-27 campaign in Hawai'i at the Hoops in Hawaii Tip-Off Classic against fellow Marianist school Chaminade on Friday, Oct. 30 at 5:15 p.m. (CT). The Rattlers return seven letterwinners and three starters off last season's 16-11 team that advanced to the Lone Star Conference quarterfinals.
 
Senior Allie Garcia (Adelaide, South Australia) was named a Player to Watch by the league after leading the team in scoring a year ago with 10.5 points per game. Garcia drained 40 three-pointers in her first year with the Rattlers and shot 43.3 percent from the floor.
 
Kerbie Cash, who transferred from Midwestern State to West Texas A&M in the offseason, was named the league's Preseason Player of the Year. She was a First-Team All-Conference pick a year ago and was the Freshman of the Year in 2024-25, narrowly beating the Rattlers' Christin Callens (Houston) for the honor.