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UConn Is Unanimous BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason Favorite

NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll was announced on Tuesday with reigning champion Connecticut the unanimous favorite to win the league. The Huskies have won the conference regular season 21 times, along with 20 BIG EAST Tournament titles, sweeping both in 2021-22. UConn collected 100 points and 10 first-place votes.
 
Coming off a historic run to the Elite Eight, Creighton finished second in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 89 points. Led by reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year Maddy Siegrist, Villanova was slotted third with 83 points and the remaining first-place vote. DePaul, which joined the Huskies, Bluejays and Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament last year, tied with Seton Hall for fourth place in the poll with 68 points. The Pirates advanced to the WNIT title game in 2022. Fellow WNIT squad Marquette was picked sixth (56 points) followed by St. John’s in seventh (47 points) and Providence in eighth (34 points). Butler and Georgetown were knotted at ninth with 21 points apiece, while Xavier rounded out the poll in 11th with 18 points.
 
UConn went 30-6 overall a season ago, advancing to its 14th straight Final Four and playing in its 12th NCAA title game. The Huskies went 16-1 in BIG EAST play, and return a trio of starters from that squad, including sophomore standout Azzi Fudd. UConn boasts the nation’s No. 4 recruiting class, as ranked by ESPN, highlighted by top-five recruits Ayanna Patterson and Ice Brady. UConn also returns BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Nika Muhl and Preseason All-BIG EAST honorees Caroline Ducharme and Aaliyah Edwards. Naismith Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma is entering his 38th season and boasts 1,149 career wins.
 
Returning four starters and 84 percent of its scoring from 2021-22, Creighton went 23-10 overall and 15-5 in BIG EAST play. The 10th-seeded Bluejays went on a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight, upsetting No. 7 seed Colorado, No. 2 seed Iowa on its home floor and No. 3 seed Iowa State before falling to eventual national champion No. 1 seed South Carolina. Among Creighton’s returners are All-BIG EAST First Team selection Emma Ronsiek, BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year Morgan Maly and BIG EAST Most Improved Player Laura Jensen. Among the notable newcomers for Jim Flanery’s squad is Brittany Harshaw, a McDonald’s All-American nominee out of Andover, Kan.
 
Coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, Villanova (24-9, 15-4 BIG EAST) finished runner-up in the BIG EAST regular-season and Tournament. The Wildcats earned a historic win over UConn in February, dealing the Huskies their first conference loss in nearly nine years. Highlighting their trio of returners is reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year Maddy Siegrist. The rising senior forward shattered the BIG EAST record for scoring, averaging 27.9 points per game, besting the previous mark of 26.6 which had been on the books since 1991-92. In two seasons under head coach Denise Dillon, the Wildcats have gone 41-16 (.719) and have made the national postseason in both years.
 
DePaul earned an NCAA Tournament invite for the 25th time and finished the season with a 22-11 overall record and 14-6 BIG EAST mark. The Blue Demons return a pair of starters from that squad, most notably national Freshman of the Year Aneesah Morrow. Morrow broke 13 BIG EAST records, including all rebounding records (single game, rookie game, season, rookie season, average, rookie average) and all rookie scoring standards (single game, season, average). DePaul also returns double-digit scorer Darrione Rogers. The Blue Demons add a number of new faces, including Notre Dame transfer Anaya Peoples. DePaul head coach Doug Bruno was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame this summer and is entering his 36th season with the Blue Demons.
 
 Winning 16 of its last 19 games, Seton Hall finished the year with a 24-13 overall record, including 12-8 in BIG EAST play. The Pirates advanced to the title game of the WNIT, but will look to return to the NCAA Tournament this year. The Hall returns three starters from ’21-22, including a pair of All-BIG EAST First Team honorees in Lauren Park-Lane and Sidney Cooks. Park-Lane holds the BIG EAST single-game record for assists (18) and is already among the conference’s all-time leaders in the category with more than 300 over her 53 career league contests. The Pirates have qualified for the national postseason in six of head coach Tony Bozzella’s nine seasons at his alma mater.
 
Marquette earned the BIG EAST’s automatic bid into the WNIT last year, advancing to the third round. The Golden Eagles return a trio of starters from that team that went 23-11 overall and 13-7 in BIG EAST play. Highlighting the returners is Jordan King, who finished third on the team in scoring last year with an 11.5 average, while leading the squad in assists (4.4). Among the newcomers for Marquette is Xavier transfer Nia Clark, who previously played for MU head coach Megan Duffy while she was at Miami (Ohio).
 
St. John’s returns five of its top-six scorers from a year ago while adding four transfers to bolster its lineup. The Red Storm went 12-19 overall and 7-12 in BIG EAST play last year. Top returners include Kadaja Bailey, who finished second on the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game, and leading rebounder Rayven Peeples who grabbed 9.6 boards per contest. Among the newcomers is Ole Miss transfer Mimi Reid and Georgetown transfer Jillian Archer. Entering his 10th year at the helm, Joe Tartamella became St. John’s all-time winningest coach last season.  
 
Leading scorer Janai Crooms returns for Providence, which went 11-19 overall and 6-15 in BIG EAST play in 2021-22. Crooms averaged 13.8 points per game and is joined by a pair of key sophomore returners in Kylee Sheppard and Olivia Olsen. The Friars added impact transfers during the offseason, including Iowa’s Logan Cook and Florida’s Brynn Farrell. Head coach Jim Crowley is entering his seventh season in Friartown.
 
Butler is under the direction of a new head coach as Austin Parkinson takes the reigns after a successful stint at IUPUI. Parkinson will look to improve upon the Bulldogs’ 1-27, 0-18 BIG EAST records from a year ago. Butler returns its No. 2 scorer in Trinity White, while adding all-league transfers in Rachel McLimore (IUPUI) and Shay Frederick (Valparaiso).
 
After scoring an upset in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament, Georgetown finished 10-19 overall and 4-15 in BIG EAST play. The Hoyas return a trio of starters, including No. 2 scorer Kelsey Ransom. GU will look to add some depth with transfers, including Duke’s Jade Claude and Florida’s Kristina Moore. James Howard is entering his sixth season as the Hoyas’ head coach.
 
Xavier went 9-21 overall and 4-16 in BIG EAST play in 2021-22. The Musketeers return two starters from that team, including their assists and steals leader in Shaila Beeler, and No. 3 scorer Aanya Harris. XU adds a number of new faces, including Ole Miss transfer Taylor Smith and Kent State product Nila Blackford. Mel Moore is entering her fourth season as head coach of the Musketeers.
 
BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll
(first-place votes)
1.       Connecticut (10)             100
2.       Creighton                         89
3.       Villanova (1)                     83
4.       DePaul                              68
           Seton Hall                         68
6.       Marquette                        56
7.       St. John’s                          47
8.       Providence                       34
9.       Butler                                21
           Georgetown                     21
11.     Xavier                                18