NEW YORK – Coming off its fourth BIG EAST Tournament title in the last six seasons, DePaul was unanimously selected as the BIG EAST women’s basketball preseason favorite based on a vote by the league’s head coaches. The BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll, unveiled at Media Day on Thursday, saw the Blue Demons earn all nine first-place votes and 81 points. St. John’s was picked second in the poll with 70 points and garnered the remaining first-place vote, followed by rival Seton Hall in third with 58 points. Creighton rounded out the top four with 50 points.
Coming off trips to the WNIT, Providence and Villanova tied for fifth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 44
BIG EAST Women’s Basketball
Preseason Coaches’ Poll |
| 1. |
DePaul (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
St. John’s (1) |
70 |
| 3. |
Seton Hall |
58 |
| 4. |
Creighton |
50 |
| 5. |
Providence |
44 |
| |
Villanova |
44 |
| 7. |
Butler |
43 |
| 8. |
Xavier |
23 |
| 9. |
Marquette |
19 |
| 10. |
Georgetown |
18 |
points apiece. On the heels of its most successful season as a member of the BIG EAST, Butler was slotted seventh with 43 points. A pair of teams under the direction of new head coaches follows as Xavier was picked eighth with 23 points and Marquette was tabbed ninth with 19 points. Georgetown rounded out the poll in 10
th with 18 points.
DePaul is the winningest BIG EAST program since realignment, averaging over 15 conference wins per year while showing an .843 winning percentage (91-17) in the last six seasons. The Blue Demons have made 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, earning the BIG EAST’s automatic bid in four of the last six years by winning the conference championship. DePaul finished 2018-19 with a 26-8 overall record and 14-4 BIG EAST mark. The Blue Demons return three starters and seven letterwinners from that squad, including BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player Chante Stonewall and all-around standout Kelly Campbell, the lone returning league player with a triple-double to her credit.
St. John’s is expected to make the biggest jump from 2018-19 when the Red Storm finished 15-16 overall and tied for eighth in the league standings with a 7-11 record. Slotted to finish second in the BIG EAST in 2019-2020, St. John’s returns three starters and seven letterwinners. Included in the group of returners is scoring, steals and assists leader Tiana England. The Red Storm were one of just two teams to have all five starters average double figures in scoring in BIG EAST play, with England going for a team-high 12.0 points along with 23 total steals and 97 assists.
Seton Hall finished 2018-19 tied for eighth with St. John’s at 7-11, while going 15-16 overall, bowing out in the first round of the WNIT. BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year Shadeen Samuels highlights a group of seven returning letterwinners. Samuels won the league’s scoring title in 2018-19, averaging 20.2 points per game over 17 BIG EAST contests. The Hall has qualified for the national postseason in five of the last six seasons.
After finishing tied for sixth with Providence at 8-10,
Creighton is projected to finish fourth in 2019-20. The Bluejays, who posted a 15-16 overall mark, return nine letterwinners and three starters. Jaylyn Agnew is CU’s top returner after averaging 10.4 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds over 18 BIG EAST contests. The Bluejays were the only team in 2018-19 to beat both regular-season champion Marquette and BIG EAST Tournament champion DePaul.
The Friars turned a corner in 2018-19, posting their most overall wins (19) since 2009-10, and most BIG EAST victories (eight) since 1996-97.
Providence earned a national postseason bid for the first time since the 2009-10 season, advancing to the Round of 16 in the WNIT. Four starters are back in 2019-2020, including reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Mary Baskerville. During her rookie campaign, Baskerville finished among the conference leaders in rebounding, blocks and field goal percentage.
Knotted with Providence in the preseason poll,
Villanova went 19-13 overall last year and 9-9 in BIG EAST play to tie with Georgetown for fourth place. The Wildcats advanced to the second round of the WNIT, marking their eighth consecutive national postseason appearance. Among the five letterwinners and two starters returning is one of the top shooters in the nation in senior Mary Gedaka. Gedaka finished third among all Division I players, making over 66 percent of her attempts from the field, while leading Villanova in both scoring and rebounding.
Coming off its most successful season as a member of the BIG EAST,
Butler was slotted seventh in the poll, missing a tie with Providence and Villanova by just one point. The Bulldogs went 23-10 overall, including a 15-1 start to the season for its finest since 1980-81, while posting an 11-7 third-place BIG EAST record as Kurt Godlevske was voted BIG EAST Coach of the Year. Butler returned to the national postseason for the first time since 2014, advancing to the WNIT Round of 16. The Bulldogs will have to replace three starters from that squad, but welcome back No. 2 scorer Kristen Spolyar.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Melanie Moore,
Xavier was tabbed eighth in the preseason poll. Moore inherits a Musketeer squad which went 11-19 overall and 2-16 in BIG EAST play to finish 10
th. Among the nine letterwinners returning is junior A’riana Gray. Gray had a breakout sophomore season, becoming the first Xavier player to win the BIG EAST rebounding title, averaging 12.1 boards over 18 league contests.
Coming off back-to-back regular-season trophies, advancing to three straight BIG EAST Tournament title games and earning three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, a new-look
Marquette team was slotted ninth in the preseason coaches poll. The Golden Eagles look to replace arguably the top class the BIG EAST has seen since conference realignment as all five graduated seniors were 1,000-point scorers, including 2,000-point scorer Allazia Blockton and fellow All-American Natisha Hiedeman. MU is also under the direction of a new head coach as Megan Duffy took the reins this past April. Selena Lott is the top returner for Marquette. The junior was inserted into the starting lineup in 2018-19 after Blockton went down with an injury and went on to average 7.1 points and 3.3 rebounds over 35 appearances.
After an impressive run to the quarterfinals of the 2019 WNIT,
Georgetown was picked 10
th in the preseason poll. The Hoyas lost Dionna White to graduation, a 2,000-point scorer and one of the top defensive players in BIG EAST history, finishing third all-time in steals. GU’s top scorer in BIG EAST play, Dorothy Adomako, also graduated as Georgetown will have to replace four starters. Brianna Jones and Nikola Kovacikova each earned starts during the 2018-19 campaign in which GU went 19-16 overall, with Jones being the top returning scorer at 4.3 points per game.