ARLINGTON, Texas – Stephen F. Austin earned the top spot in the preseason 2022-23 Western Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll and the 2022-23 WAC Women’s Basketball Media Poll that were released on Monday. All 13 WAC head coaches cast votes for the preseason predicted order of finish and all-conference awards, with select media members taking part in the media poll.
Stephen F. Austin claimed nine first-place votes and 140 voting points to finish ahead of UT Arlington (two first-place votes, 126 voting points) and Grand Canyon (two first-place votes, 124 voting points) in the coaches’ poll. California Baptist (107 points) and Abilene Christian (86 points) rounded out the top five teams in the preseason coaches’ rankings. SFA led those same five teams in order at the top of the media poll.
Stephen F. Austin graduate forward/center Aiyana Johnson was named the 2022-23 WAC Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches’ poll. UT Arlington’s graduate forward Starr Jacobs was named the 2022-23 WAC Media Preseason Player of the Year. Johnson averaged 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in 17 starts for the Lumberjacks. Jacobs averaged 21 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Mavericks as she was a fixture in the starting lineup.
Johnson and Jacobs were joined on both preseason all-conference teams by California Baptist’s Trinity San Antonio, Grand Canyon's Aaliyah Collins, UT Arlington’s Jireh Washington and Utah Tech’s Breaunna Gillen.
2022-23 Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll
|
Rank
|
Team (1st-Place Votes)
|
Points
|
|
1.
|
Stephen F. Austin (9)
|
140
|
|
2.
|
UT Arlington (2)
|
126
|
|
3.
|
Grand Canyon (2)
|
124
|
|
4.
|
California Baptist
|
107
|
|
5.
|
Abilene Christian
|
86
|
|
6.
|
Southern Utah
|
83
|
|
7.
|
Sam Houston
|
70
|
|
8.
|
Utah Valley
|
69
|
|
9.
|
UTRGV
|
56
|
|
10.
|
NM State
|
46
|
|
11.
|
Tarleton
|
44
|
| |
Utah Tech
|
44
|
|
13.
|
Seattle U
|
19
|
2022-23 WAC Coaches’ Preseason Player of the Year: Aiyana Johnson, Grad, F/C, Stephen F. Austin
2022-23 Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches' All-WAC Teams
First Team
Trinity San Antonio, So., G, California Baptist
Aaliyah Collins, So., G, Grand Canyon
Madelyn Batista, Sr., F, Sam Houston
Tomekia Whitman, Sr., G, Southern Utah
Aiyana Johnson, Grad, F/C, Stephen F. Austin
Starr Jacobs, Grad, F, UT Arlington
Breaunna Gillen, Sr., G, Utah Tech
Emily Isaacson, Sr., G/F, Utah Tech
Second Team
Bella Earle, So., G, Abilene Christian
Tiarra Brown, Jr., G/F, Grand Canyon
Chyna Allen, Grad, G, Sam Houston
Cherita Daugherty, Grad, G, Southern Utah
Jireh Washington, Grad, G, UT Arlington
Kayla White, Grad, G, UT Arlington
Iyana Dorsey, So., G, UTRGV
Shay Fano, Jr., F, Utah Valley
2022-23 WAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Media Poll
|
Rank
|
Team
|
|
1.
|
Stephen F. Austin
|
|
2.
|
UT Arlington
|
|
3.
|
Grand Canyon
|
|
4.
|
California Baptist
|
|
5.
|
Abilene Christian
|
|
6.
|
Sam Houston
|
|
7.
|
Utah Tech
|
|
8.
|
Southern Utah
|
|
9.
|
Utah Valley
|
|
10.
|
Tarleton
|
|
11.
|
UTRGV
|
|
12.
|
NM State
|
|
13.
|
Seattle U
|
2022-23 WAC Media Preseason Player of the Year: Starr Jacobs, Grad, F, UT Arlington
2022-23 Preseason All-WAC Team
Maleeah Langstaff, Grad, F, Abilene Christian
Madi Miller, Grad, G, Abilene Christian
Trinity San Antonio, So., G, California Baptist
Aaliyah Collins, So., G, Grand Canyon
Aiyana Johnson, Grad, F/C, Stephen F. Austin
Starr Jacobs, Grad, F, UT Arlington
Jireh Washington, Grad, G, UT Arlington
Breaunna Gillen, Sr., G, Utah Tech