West Texas A&M is narrowly favored to defend its Lone Star Conference title, according to the 2016-17 LSC preseason women’s basketball poll announced Wednesday.
The league's preseason polls reflect the opinions of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.
WT edged Angelo State by one point for the top spot. The Lady Buffs, who claimed their third consecutive LSC Championship last season, received 16 first-place votes for 312 points.
ASU was a close second as the defending tournament champions received 13 top votes and 311 points.
Texas Woman’s ranked third with 257 points followed by Tarleton State (238), Texas A&M-Commerce (207) and Cameron (156 and remaining top vote).
Eastern New Mexico and Midwestern State tied for seventh place with 145 points apiece, while UT Permian Basin (77), Western New Mexico (71) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (61) completed the poll.
VIDEOS: 2016-17 LSC Women's Basketball Online Preseason Media Day
ASU’s Jasmine Prophet earned Preseason Player of the Year acclaim. Prophet was the favorite on 16 of the 30 ballots cast.
Prophet, a 6-1 senior post from Jackson, Mississippi, averaged 14.2 points per game and scored in double figures in 22 games last year. The LSC Player of the Year ended the season scoring at least 20 points in five of the last six games. She also had five double-doubles on the season. The junior led the Belles to just the program's third NCAA Tournament win and fifth LSC Tournament Championship. She led the team in rebounds with 6.4 per game and recorded 51 blocks which is the fourth most in school history.
The LSC has 11 teams set for this season and the competition should be as tight as ever. The season begins in early November with LSC teams playing a double round robin league schedule, in which each team plays a home and away contest against each of the other teams to determine the LSC champion.
The LSC champion will be the regular season winner determined by league games, while the postseason tournament winner is designated as LSC Tournament Champion and earns the conference’s automatic qualification. The top eight teams in the final conference standings qualify for the postseason tournament set for March 2-5 in Allen, Texas.
| Rank |
Team |
1st |
Total |
| 1 |
West Texas A&M |
16 |
312 |
| 2 |
Angelo State |
13 |
311 |
| 3 |
Texas Woman's |
|
257 |
| 4 |
Tarleton State |
|
238 |
| 5 |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
|
207 |
| 6 |
Cameron |
1 |
156 |
| T7 |
Eastern New Mexico |
|
145 |
| T7 |
Midwestern State |
|
145 |
| 9 |
UT Permian Basin |
|
77 |
| 10 |
Western New Mexico |
|
71 |
| 11 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
|
61 |