West Texas A&M is the favorite to claim the Lone Star Conference title, according to the 2018-19 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 earned 18 first-place votes for 324 points after sharing the LSC title and claiming the tournament crown with an overall record of 29-5 and 16-4 league mark last season. The Lady Buffs made the program's 24th overall and fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Postseason with a run to the South Central Regional championship game.
Angelo State, who won a share of the LSC title last year, was second with seven top votes and 307 points. Tarleton State ranked third receiving four first-place votes and 279 points.
Texas A&M-Commerce was fourth with the two remaining top votes and 252 points. Eastern New Mexico was fifth with 199 points followed by Cameron sixth (177), Texas Woman’s seventh (154), and Midwestern State eighth (140). UT Permian Basin (98), Texas A&M-Kingsville (74), and Western New Mexico (42) completed the poll.
ASU’s Marquita Daniels claimed Preseason Player of the Year honors. She was the top choice on 10 of the 31 ballots cast.
Daniels, a senior guard from Atlanta, Georgia, was named LSC Player and Newcomer of the Year after leading ASU with 15.2 points and 3.4 assists per game. The first-team All-LSC performer led the league in steals and broke the school record with 103 last season.
The LSC has 11 teams set for this season and the competition should be as competitive 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 7-10, 2019, at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas.
| RANK |
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL |
1st |
TOTAL |
| 1 |
West Texas A&M |
18 |
324 |
| 2 |
Angelo State |
7 |
307 |
| 3 |
Tarleton State |
4 |
279 |
| 4 |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
2 |
252 |
| 5 |
Eastern New Mexico |
|
199 |
| 6 |
Cameron |
|
177 |
| 7 |
Texas Woman's |
|
154 |
| 8 |
Midwestern State |
|
140 |
| 9 |
UT Permian Basin |
|
98 |
| 10 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
|
74 |
| 11 |
Western New Mexico |
|
42 |