Media Day Central
UNCASVILLE, CONN. – Defending National Champion UConn was chosen as the unanimous favorite to win the 2013-14 American Athletic Conference regular-season title. Louisville, the national runner-up, was chosen to finish second in the voting. The selection was made by the league’s 10 head coaches, who were not permitted to select their own teams.
UConn was selected unanimously to win the league in the inaugural year of the American Athletic Conference after the Huskies won the NCAA Championship title last year. UConn returns three starters and seven of its top-eight scorers from last year’s national championship squad. Connecticut finished 35-4 in 2012-13 to post its eighth-straight 30-win season. The Huskies enter the 2013-14 season having appeared in a record six-straight Final Fours and UConn has advanced to at least the Final Four 11 times since 2000. The Huskies will be led by Preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Breanna Stewart, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four last season. Joining Stewart is junior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and senior Stefanie Dolson, both selected by the coaches as Preseason All-Conference team members.
Louisville was picked to finish second in The American after the Cardinals finished last year as the national runner up. Preseason All-Conference selections Antonita Slaughter and Shoni Schimmel return to lead the team as seniors this season. Schimmel led the team last year with 14.2 ppg and 136 assists, while Slaughter was third on the team with 10.1 ppg and a .358 3-point shooting percentage. Junior forward Sara Hammond, also an All-Conference honoree, was second on the team with 10.8 ppg and averaged a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game.
USF finished last season on a great run, as the Bulls secured their first NCAA tournament win in program history. The Bulls finished the season 22-11 after taking Cal, ranked fifth nationally, into overtime in the second round. It was the Bulls’ first trip in program history to the second round of the tournament. This year, the Bulls return three starters, including last year’s two leading rebounders, and the third and fourth-leading scorers from 2012-13. Junior Inga Orekhova, a Preseason All-Conference selection, returns as the top returning scorer after averaging 12.7 ppg and hitting a team-high 82 3-pointers.
Rutgers, picked to finish fourth in the league, finished the 2012-13 campaign at 16-14 overall and welcomes eight returning letterwinners along with the nation’s top incoming point guard. Junior guard/forward
Betnijah Laney, a 2013 Preseason All-Conference selection, returns as the Scarlet Knights’ top scorer and leader on the glass at 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, along with BIG EAST All-Freshman Team member sophomore
Kahleah Copper, who averaged 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in her first season at RU. Also suiting up for the Scarlet Knights will be freshman
Tyler Scaife, the two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year and ninth overall rated recruit by ESPN Hoopgurlz. Scaife was named the Preseason Freshman of the Year by the league’s head coaches.
SMU returns four starters from the 2012-13 team, including senior guard Preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection Keena Mays, who was named Conference USA Conference Player of the Year and earned All-Region honors last year. SMU went 21-10 last season, winning the C-USA Regular-Season Championship, and reaching the postseason for the 12th time under head coach Rhonda Rompola.
Memphis returns seven letterwinners from last year’s WNIT team, but none with more than one year in the Tigers’ blue and gray. Seniors Pa’Sonna Hope and Devin Mack both transferred to Memphis last season and will be relied on to help lead a four-member sophomore class that saw some significant playing time last season. Guard Ariel Hearn was a C-USA All-Freshman team honoree after finishing the season as the team’s second-leading scorer (13.8 ppg) and the team’s assist leader, with 109 assists on the season.
Cincinnati finished the 2012-13 season with a 12-18 overall record, winning four of the last six games to close out the regular season. That span included a last-second win against Marquette and a 56-48 win over Rutgers on Senior Day.
Eight of UC's nine letterwinners started at least one contest last season including Kayla Cook, who started every game. The Bearcats were led by two-time All-BIG EAST Second-Team selection and 2013 Preseason All-Conference honoree Dayeesha Hollins, who averaged 15.4 points per game.
UCF concluded 2012-13 playing its best basketball of the season as the Knights won three contests to advance to the Conference USA Championship title game. Preseason All-Conference selection Briahanna Jackson is back after averaging 15.7 ppg last season, second on the team. The Knights return only five letterwinners from a year ago, but four of the returnees are starters
Temple went 14-18 last year. The Owls will be led by last year’s second-leading scorer, Rateska Brown. The junior guard averaged 10.8 points per game, grabbed a team-high 44 steals, dished out 63 assists and averaged 4.3 rebounds per game.
Houston returns four of five starters and nine of 10 letterwinners from last year's team, accounting for 74 percent of last season's total scoring. Sophomore forward Marche' Amerson was named to the C-USA All-Freshman squad after ranking second on the team with 9.1 points per game and 10.1 points per contest in league play. Amerson set a freshman record by starting in all 30 contests and placed in the top 10 of six other freshman records.
The 2014 American Women’s Basketball Championship will be hosted at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., March 7-10. Home to the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, the 10,000-seat, state-of-the-art Mohegan Sun Arena opened in November of 2002, and is now internationally recognized as a premier facility. The winner of the conference tournament earns an automatic berth the 2014 NCAA Championship.
2013-14 Preseason Coaches Poll
Points
|
1. |
Connecticut (9) |
81 |
|
2. |
Louisville (1) |
73 |
|
3. |
USF |
59 |
|
4. |
Rutgers |
57 |
|
5. |
SMU |
50 |
|
6. |
Memphis |
32 |
|
7. |
Cincinnati |
30 |
|
8. |
UCF |
28 |
|
9. |
Temple |
25 |
|
10. |
Houston |
15 |