Oct. 22, 2009
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University women's basketball squad was selected to finish eighth overall in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll announced Thursday at the league's annual media day in New York City. The Hoyas were among the top eight in the 16-team conference for the first time under sixth-year Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. The University of Connecticut Huskies were the unanimous number one selection after going undefeated and winning the national championship just a season ago. The Hoyas tallied 20 wins last year for the first time since 1992-93.
Georgetown was 20-14 last season finishing tied for ninth in the BIG EAST and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament. This postseason run marked the furthest any Georgetown squad had gone in postseason play in program history. The Blue & Gray lost just three players to graduation and returns 12 veterans as well as four of five starters. Georgetown will have to replace shooting guard and leading scorer Karee Houlette who averaged 10.5 ppg. Freshman McDonald's All-American Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) is a welcome addition to the lineup as a likely replacement for Houlette.
The Hoyas will play a challenging schedule this season with the reigning national champs and runners up, the reigning WNIT Champion, three ACC rivals, one Big Ten opponent and 16 squads that made the postseason last year on tap. Georgetown opens the season on November 14 at Missouri State and will play six-straight road games before its home opener on November 28 against Wofford.
The Blue & Gray will be featured in five televised matchups this season including one at home against Louisville on January 16 and another at West Virginia on February 14 on ESPNU as part of ESPN's February Frenzy to support breast cancer research.
The defending NCAA Champion Huskies were selected first with 225 points and 15 first-place votes by the BIG EAST's 16 head coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own squad. Notre Dame (210), DePaul (171) and Louisville (171) rounded out the top four. Pittsburgh (167), Rutgers (156) and Syracuse (126) were picked in front of Georgetown which received 124 votes.
UConn's Maya Moore was named the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year after capturing the title last season and Notre Dame's Skylar Diggings earned Preseason BIG EAST Freshman of the Year by a unanimous vote. The Huskies had three players named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Squad while Notre Dame and DePaul had two each.
After unprecedented exposure last season, the BIG EAST will have 97 television appearances this year including one on CBS Sports, 18 on ESPN/ESPN2, 27 on ESPNU and 25 on CBS College Sports. Additionally, UConn will host Notre Dame in the first-ever women's basketball College GameDay Driven by State Farm on ESPN.
The Hoyas opened practice last weekend and will start nonconference play on November 14 at Missouri State. The Blue & Gray will begin BIG EAST play on January 2 at Syracuse. Georgetown will face all 15 teams once and will have a home and away series with South Florida this season.
