NASHVILLE – The Trevecca Nazarene University women's basketball team is picked fifth in the 2026-27 Gulf South Conference preseason coaches' poll with 70 points. Senior guard Jordan Gillies earned a spot on the five-player preseason All-GSC team.

The projection follows a season in which Trevecca finished 18-11 overall and 14-8 in the GSC, placed fourth in the league and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals after being picked 11th in the preseason poll. Doug Novak returns for his second season leading the Trojans.

UAH tops the poll with 96 points and seven first-place votes. Union is second with 90 points and three first-place votes, followed by Lee with 80 points and the remaining first-place vote. Delta State is fourth with 73 points, three ahead of Trevecca. Valdosta State follows the Trojans in sixth with 56 points.

2026-27 GSC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

() = First Place Votes

PRESEASON ALL-GSC TEAM

Gillies, a Cookeville, Tennessee, native, returns after earning first-team All-South Region recognition from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association and first-team All-GSC honors. She started all 29 games last season and averaged 16.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists, adding 60 steals and 38 blocked shots. She also earned TSWA Player of the Week honors on Jan. 27.

Gillies totaled 471 points and set Trevecca's NCAA-era single-season assists record with 119, surpassing Christina Curtner's 118. Her 60 three-pointers tied Shaw for the NCAA-era season record. She led the Trojans in scoring, assists, steals and blocks while shooting 35.7% from three-point range and 78.2% at the foul line.

She scored in double figures 23 times, reached 20 points eight times and recorded five double-doubles. Her two 32-point games came against Delta State on Feb. 21 and at UAH in the GSC semifinals on March 5. Gillies finished third in the GSC in scoring and second in assists per game and blocked shots per game; her 4.1 assists per game ranked 50th in NCAA Division II.

DOUG NOVAK AND HIS STAFF

Doug Novak begins his second season after leading Trevecca to an 18-11 record, a 14-8 GSC finish and the program's first Gulf South semifinal appearance. The Trojans improved by ten wins, earned the No. 4 tournament seed and defeated Lee 63-53 in a home quarterfinal after being picked 11th in the preseason poll.

Novak enters 2026-27 with 304 collegiate head-coaching wins. His 300th came in Trevecca's 76-62 victory at West Florida on Feb. 5, 2026. His experience spans men's and women's basketball, all three NCAA divisions and the junior college level, including a 131-68 record over eight seasons at Bethel in Minnesota and 80 wins at Anderson in South Carolina. He led Bethel to a share of its first MIAC regular-season title and an NCAA Division III tournament appearance in 2017.

His coaching connections include Ed Conroy, whom he assisted at Francis Marion, The Citadel and Tulane. Novak also served as interim head coach for the women's programs at Mississippi State and George Washington, and held staff positions at Army West Point and Northern Kentucky. A Tennessee tennis player on the Volunteers' 1990 NCAA runner-up team, he earned a psychology degree at Tennessee and a master's in counseling at Clemson.

Returning assistant Cyrus Booker, who joined Trevecca before the 2022-23 season, is joined by Tatum Shaw, Cheyenne Trotter and Cassi Whitworth. Booker helped the Trojans reach consecutive NCAA tournaments in 2023 and 2024 and also leads the junior varsity program. His background includes playing at Harvard and coaching at Fisk.

Shaw and Trotter move to the bench after helping Novak's first Trevecca team reach the GSC semifinals. Shaw averaged 12.2 points and made 60 three-pointers last season, tying Gillies for Trevecca's NCAA-era season record. Trotter earned second-team All-GSC honors, led the conference with 11.0 rebounds per game and recorded 16 double-doubles while averaging 14.4 points.

Whitworth's coaching background includes an assistant position at UT Southern and two seasons as head coach at St. Cecilia Academy in Nashville. She played four years at Cumberland University and graduated in 2020. Evan Baldwin provides strength and conditioning support.

GSC NEWCOMERS TO WATCH

Three Trojans appear on the conference's Newcomers to Watch list: Allie Gillies, Alyssa Petty and Maria Perulles.

Allie Gillies | G | 5-8 | Fr. | Cookeville, Tenn. | Cookeville HS

Gillies joins her sister, Jordan, after earning 2026 TSWA Class 4A All-State honors and helping Cookeville finish as the state runner-up. She averaged 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in high school and reached 1,000 career points.

Alyssa Petty | F | 5-10 | So. | Fayetteville, Tenn. | Bryan College

Petty earned second-team All-Appalachian Athletic Conference, all-defensive team and all-freshman team honors at Bryan last season. She averaged nine points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 49.7% from the field for a team that finished 21-7 and reached the NAIA National Tournament.

Maria Perulles | F/C | 5-11 | Fr. | Barcelona, Spain | Fert HS

Perulles played for Femení Sant Adrià in Spain, where she averaged eight points and ten rebounds and led her team in rebounding. Her club experience includes a U18 Catalonia championship and a trip to the Round of 16 at the Spanish National Championship.

2026-27 ROSTER PREVIEW

Trevecca's 13-player roster includes six returners and seven newcomers. Jordan Gillies, Jayda Woods, and Brianna Burgess give the Trojans three senior guards. Junior guard Ava Cathey and sophomores Ava Jones and Natalia Hernandez complete the returning group.

Brianna Burgess, a senior guard from Charlotte, Tennessee, started all 28 games she played and averaged 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. She finished second on the team with 80 assists, made 38 three-pointers and posted a 2.58 assist-to-turnover ratio. Burgess scored in double figures nine times, including a season-high 16 points at Lee, and enters with 146 career assists at Trevecca.

Jayda Woods, a senior guard from Nashville, started all 27 of her appearances and averaged 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds. The Ensworth graduate scored in double figures six times and brings 94 career appearances, 55 starts and 421 points into the season.

Natalia Hernandez, a sophomore guard/forward from Barcelona, Spain, appeared in all 29 games with two starts and averaged 3.1 points and 1.9 rebounds. She added 31 assists, made 11 three-pointers and scored a season-high 11 points against UAH.

Ava Jones, a sophomore forward from Sparta, Tennessee, shot 60.7% from the field and 80.0% at the free-throw line while averaging 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 22 games. She scored a season-high 13 points against both Union and Valdosta State. At White County High School, she scored 1,354 career points and set the school's blocked-shots record with 293.

Ava Cathey, a junior guard from Kingston Springs, Tennessee, appeared in four games last season and contributed three rebounds, two steals and an assist. The Harpeth graduate earned high school Defensive MVP and all-district recognition in both 2023 and 2024.

Petty is the lone college transfer among the newcomers. Allie Gillies and Perulles join fellow freshmen Ryan Bardenwerper, Aina Comas Casasnovas, Maddie Graham and Merli Routh. The roster features six freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and three seniors.

ADDITIONAL NEWCOMERS

Ryan Bardenwerper | G/F | 6-0 | Fr. | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Northridge HS

Bardenwerper scored 1,313 career points, surpassed 500 rebounds and set Northridge's career record with 242 three-pointers. She helped the Jaguars win the 2026 area tournament and twice made a school-record seven three-pointers in a game.

Aina Comas Casasnovas | G | 5-11 | Fr. | Ciutadella de Menorca, Spain | IES CTEIB HS

Comas Casasnovas averaged 15 points and totaled 330 points while playing at Spain's Balearic Islands Sports Training Center. She helped win the 2025-26 Balearic Islands senior championship and earned bronze at the 2025 Spanish U17 3x3 National Championship.

Maddie Graham | G/F | 5-9 | Fr. | Nolensville, Tenn. | Father Ryan HS

Graham earned 2026 TSWA Division II-AA All-State honors and finished her Father Ryan career with 1,305 points. She averaged 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and two assists as a senior and helped the Irish reach the state quarterfinals in 2025 and 2026.

Merli Routh | G | 5-3 | Fr. | Nashville, Tenn. | Christ Presbyterian Academy

Routh earned 2026 BCAT All-Star recognition and helped CPA win its first Division II-AA region championship. She also helped the Lions reach the state semifinals in 2024 and 2026.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Trojans host Sewanee on Nov. 3 and Wesleyan College on Nov. 7 in preseason exhibitions. The Nov. 7 game is part of Trevecca's Homecoming celebration marking the university's 125th anniversary. Their regular-season opener is Nov. 10 at Georgia Southwestern in Americus, Georgia, before Barry and Lynn visit Trojan Fieldhouse on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14.

GSC play begins with home games against Montevallo on Dec. 3 and AUM on Dec. 5. Trevecca faces each of its ten conference opponents twice in a 20-game round robin league schedule. The regular season concludes with road games at UAH on Feb. 24 and West Alabama on Feb. 26.

The first matchup with a team picked ahead of Trevecca comes Dec. 10 at Union, the second choice in the preseason poll. The Trojans host Delta State, picked fourth, on Dec. 19, visit third-choice Lee on Jan. 2 and welcome preseason favorite UAH on Jan. 16. Return meetings bring Union to Nashville on Jan. 30 and Lee on Feb. 13, with road trips to Delta State on Feb. 4 and UAH on Feb. 24. Valdosta State, picked sixth, hosts Trevecca on Jan. 10 and visits Trojan Fieldhouse on Feb. 18.

GSC PRESEASON TOP SIX MATCHUPS FOR TREVECCA

Complete schedule: Trevecca Women's Basketball

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