NEW YORK, N.Y. The Seton Hall women’s basketball team was picked to finish 14th in the 2008-09 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Defending league champion Connecticut claimed the top spot in the poll.
Connecticut earned 14 first-place votes for a total of 224 points in the poll. The Huskies went 15-1 in league play a year ago, finished the season with a 36-2 overall record, earned a berth to the NCAA Championship for the 20th straight year and advanced to their ninth Final Four. UConn returns four of its five starters from last year’s Final Four team, and lost just four letterwinners from that squad.
The Huskies will be led by 2007-08 BIG EAST Player and Freshman of the Year Maya Moore. Named the 2008-09 BIG EAST Preseason Player of Year, Moore became the first player men’s or women’s in conference history to earn both honors in the same year. Moore had an exceptional rookie season as she was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week a league-record 10 times and was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on March 3 becoming the first freshman male or female to win both awards in the same week.
Rutgers grabbed one first-place vote and a total of 201 points. The Scarlet Knights finished last year 27-7 overall and 14-2 in BIG EAST play.
Earning its highest ranking in the preseason poll and its first-ever first-place vote, Louisville checks in directly behind Rutgers with 200 points and in third place. The Cardinals are coming off one of their most successful seasons in program history. Louisville finished the year ranked No. 12 in the national coaches’ poll, its highest ranking in program history, while advancing to its first-ever Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship. The Cardinals finished 26-10 and ended the conference season with a 10-6 mark. Louisville advanced to the BIG EAST Championship final as the No. 7 seed.
Notre Dame was picked fourth, collecting 182 points. The Irish are coming off their seventh NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, completing the year with a 25-9 overall mark. Notre Dame finished with a BIG EAST record of 11-5 and was the fourth seed in the conference championship. Notre Dame returns three starters and seven letterwinners to this year’s squad. Leading the Irish will be senior Lindsay Schrader, a 2008-09 Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention selection. Schrader averaged 10.3 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds in her first year back after a season-ending knee injury in 2006-07.
The next four teams in the poll fifth place through eighth place were bunched closely together. Pittsburgh was fifth was 162 points, followed by Syracuse (156), Marquette (147) and DePaul (132).
Pittsburgh finished the regular season in fifth place and ended the season with a 24-11 mark, advancing to its’ first-ever NCAA Sweet 16. Syracuse returned to the national spotlight, finishing the season with a 22-9 mark and its first NCAA berth since the 2002 season. Marquette captured the league’s first WNIT Championship title putting together a five-game win streak to end the season with a 21-14 record. DePaul earned its sixth-straight NCAA Championship appearance and completed the year with a 20-12 mark.
West Virginia, picked ninth in this year’s preseason poll with 109 points, lost 11 letterwinners from a team that went 25-8 and advanced to the NCAA Championship Second Round a year ago.
The coaches have selected Villanova 10th, garnering 85 points. Georgetown edged out USF for 11th place with 77 and 76 points, respectively.
St. John’s has been selected 13th, followed by Seton Hall, Cincinnati and Providence.
The 2009 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship will return to the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. for the sixth straight year. For the first time all 16 BIG EAST schools will participate. The 2009 championship will be held March 6-10 with five full days of action and 15 games. The BIG EAST's teams will battle for the conference tournament title and one will earn the league's automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.
2008-09 Preseason BIG EAST Coaches' Poll
1. Connecticut (14) 224
2. Rutgers (1) 201
3. Louisville (1) 200
4. Notre Dame 182
5. Pittsburgh 162
6. Syracuse 156
7. Marquette 147
8. DePaul 132
9. West Virginia 109
10. Villanova 85
11. Georgetown 77
12. USF 76
13. St. John's 66
14. Seton Hall 40
15. Cincinnati 33
16. Providence 30
(-) - Indicates first-place votes
2008-09 Preseason BIG EAST Honors
2008-09 Preseason Player of the Year
Maya Moore, Connecticut, So., F
2008-09 Preseason Freshman of the Year
April Sykes, Rutgers, Fr., G/F (Starkville, Miss.)
2008-09 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Candyce Bingham, Louisville, Sr., F
*Tina Charles, Connecticut, Jr., C
*Krystal Ellis, Marquette, Sr., G
Shantia Grace, USF, Sr., G
Chandrea Jones, Syracuse, Sr., G
*Angel McCoughtry, Louisville, Sr., F
Renee Montgomery, Connecticut, Sr., G
*Maya Moore, Connecticut, So., F
*Epiphanny Prince, Rutgers, Jr., G
Kia Vaughn, Rutgers, Sr., C
*Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh, RS-Sr., G
2008-09 Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Laura Kurz, Villanova, Sr., F
Deirdre Naughton, DePaul, Jr., G
Lindsay Schrader, Notre Dame, Sr., G
* - unanimous selection
