PRESEASON RELEASE | SCHEDULE

TIPOFF TIME
The seventh season of American Athletic Conference women’s basketball tips off Tuesday, with eight of 12 teams taking the court on the first date of competition.   All-time, the conference owns a 553-348 (.614) record against non-league competition in its first six years. Non-conference play will extend throughout the season, with the first conference contest scheduled for Nov. 17, when UConn travels to Temple. The remainder of the league slate will continue in 2020, starting on Jan. 2.
 
COMING TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU
During the course of the season, 33 American Athletic Conference women’s basketball contests will air live in national productions. Twenty-eight have been selected to air on ESPN networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. Another five will appear on CBS Sports Network, and for the second-consecutive season, The American Digital Network will carry 15 league games.
 
The conference’s televised slate begins on Tuesday, Nov. 19, when UConn hosts Virginia on CBS Sports Network.
 
MOHEGAN MAGIC
For the seventh-consecutive season, Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. will be the home of the American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship.  The 2020 Championship will take place March 6-9, with all 12 teams vying for the league’s at-large bid to the 2020 NCAA Championship. All 11 games will air live on ESPN networks.
 
RANK AND FILE
American Athletic Conference teams are scheduled to meet 11 of the AP’s Preseason Top 25 teams during the 2019-20 season, including No. 1 Oregon and defending national champion Baylor. Additionally, The American’s teams will meet a total of 30 squads from the 2019 NCAA Championship field.
 
In the opening week, USF will look to make a strong statement on Friday, hosting No. 15 Texas at the Yuengling Center.
 
PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
Three American teams earned plaudits in the national preseason polls. For the 239th-straight week, UConn is a top-five squad, sitting at No. 5 in the AP Poll and No. 4 in the Coaches’ Poll. USF received votes in both, while UCF received three votes in the Coaches’ Poll.
 
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Of last season’s 16 American Athletic Conference First, Second and Third Team All-Conference honorees, 10 return for the 2019-20 season. Four of those returners were First Team nods last season, including UCF’s Kay Kay Wright, Cincinnati’s IImar’I Thomas, UConn’s Crystal Dangerfield and Temple’s Mia Davis.
 
SIX TO WATCH
Six American players from three teams (UCF, UConn, Temple) were named to their respective positional award Watch Lists in the preseason. It’s the second highest total for the conference in the three-year history of the Starting Five awards and the first time more than two programs have preseason Watch List representatives.
 
CLOSING IN
UConn’s Crystal Dangerfield, UCF’s Kay Kay Wright and ECU’s Lashonda Monk enter the 2019-20 season within shouting distance of several American Athletic Conference career records. Dangerfield currently ranks fifth in career assists, 151 off the current record of 635 held by Temple’s Feyonda Fitzgerald. Wright (207) and Monk (191) both rank in the top 10 in career steals, as they chase the current mark of 307 set by UConn’s Gabby Williams.
 
WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN
ECU announced the hiring of Kim McNeill as the program’s 10th head coach in March. She arrives in Greenville with a 59-38 career record, having spent the previous three seasons as the head coach at the University of Hartford. The Hawks reached the America East title game twice during McNeill’s tenure, and earned a berth to the WNIT in 2019.