In what is probably no surprise to us fans up here in Connecticut, the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team was picked to win the 2009-10 Big East Conference at the annual media day held in New York City on Thursday morning.
UConn junior Maya Moore was chosen as the Big East Preseason Player of the Year and her teammates senior center Tina Charles and sophomore guard Tiffany Hayes join her on the Big East Preseason First Team. Kalana Greene was selected as a Big East Preseason Honorable Mention.
The Huskies will take on St. Rose College (11/5) and Vanguard (11/9) in exhibition games before opening the season against Northeastern University on November 14th at Gampel Pavilion.
2009-10 Preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll | ||
Team | Pts. | |
1 | Connecticut (15) | 225 |
2 | Notre Dame (1) | 210 |
3 | DePaul | 171 |
– | Louisville | 171 |
5 | Pittsburgh | 167 |
6 | Rutgers | 156 |
7 | Syracuse | 126 |
8 | Georgetown | 124 |
9 | West Virginia | 121 |
10 | Marquette | 111 |
11 | USF | 86 |
12 | St. John’s | 84 |
13 | Villanova | 78 |
14 | Seton Hall | 33 |
15 | Providence | 31 |
16 | Cincinnati | 26 |
*First-place votes in parentheses |
2009-10 Big East Women’s Preseason Awards
Preseason Player of the Year
- Maya Moore, Connecticut, Jr., F
Preseason Freshman of the Year
- *Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame, G (South Bend, Ind.)
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team^
- Ashley Barlow, Notre Dame, Sr., G
- *Tina Charles, Connecticut, Sr., C
- Keisha Hampton, DePaul, So., F
- Tiffany Hayes, Connecticut, So., G
- Nicole Michael, Syracuse, Sr., F
- *Maya Moore, Connecticut, Jr., F
- Deirdre Naughton, DePaul, Sr., G
- Liz Repella, West Virginia, Jr., G
- *Angel Robinson, Marquette, Jr., G
- Kahla Roudebush, Cincinnati, Sr., G
- Lindsay Schrader, Notre Dame, R-Sr., G
- Da’Shena Stevens, St. John’s, So., F
^ – an extra member has been added to the preseason team due to a tie in voting
Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
- Deseree’ Byrd, Louisville, Jr., G
- Kalana Greene, Connecticut, Sr., G
- Brittany Ray, Rutgers, Sr., G
* – unanimous selections