CHARLOTTE, NC--The Big South Conference women's basketball coaches and media panel have picked Winthrop to finish third behind Liberty and High Point in the 2012-13 poll which was announced Tuesday during the league's annual Basketball Media Day held at the Renaissance Hotel.
The conference will have 11 women's basketball members this season with the addition of Longwood University. All 11 schools will compete for the league championship and NCAA automatic March 6-10 when the combined men's and women's Big South Conference Championship Tournament is held in Conway, SC at Coastal Carolina's new 3,200-seat arena, The HTC Center.
The Eagles, who will be led by Preseason Player of the Year
Dequesha McClanahan and first-year head coach
Kevin Cook, are picked in the same position they finished last season when they finished the Big South season with a 12-6 record and a 18-13 overall mark.
"Third is where we finished last season, and so that's a natural place to end up in the poll, but we are going to do our best to improve on that preseason ranking," said Cook, who has four starters returning from last year's squad.
Winthrop received 199 points and two of the possible 22 first place votes. Liberty, which has won 14 of the last 16 conference championships, is the preseason favorite to defend its title. The Flames received 16 first place votes and 233 points while High Point, which is looking for its first league title, received four first place votes and 215 points for second place. Campbell trailed Winthrop by 40 points and was picked fourth with 159 points.
The remainder of the poll is as follows: 5th, Radford with 154 points; 6th, Charleston Southern, 136; 7th Coastal Carolina, 92; 8th, Presbyterian College, 91; 9th, Gardner-Webb, 62; 10th, UNC Asheville, 60; 11th, Longwood, 51.
Cook, a former head coach at Gallaudet University and veteran assistant coach of the WNBA's Houston Comets, the University of Houston and Kansas University, takes over the program after serving as an assistant on the 2011-12 Eagle team that set 45 school records. With McClanahan, the Big South's scoring leader (21.1 points per game) and assist leader (7.2 per game) returning, Winthrop has 81 percent of its team scoring and 52 percent of its rebounds returning this season. Joining McClanahan on the explosive offensive unit are 5-11 forward
Diana Choibekova, the nation's leader in 3-pointers made per game (3.9) and total threes made in a season (121), and 5-8 shooting guard
Samiya Wright . Choibekova averaged 15.8 points and led Winthrop in rebounding with a 6.5 average as she earned Big South 2nd Team All-Conference recognition. Wright, who bounced back last year from a season-ending knee injury, averaged 13.2 points per game.
With the outside scoring trio returning, Winthrop went out on the recruiting trail last spring and brought in seven new players, six of whom stand 6-1 or better. With the added size and depth on the interior, the new Winthrop coach is looking for his team to improve its defensive rebounding. He also believes this year's team will be improved in its perimeter defense as they look to cut down on the opponent's made three pointers. The Eagles connected on 236 treys with Choibekova accounting for more than half of those, but the defense allowed 207.
The Eagles will open the 2012-13 season at home on Nov. 11 when they host Troy at 2 p.m. before heading on the road for a game at Ohio State (Nov. 17) and a three-game appearance in the Hardwood For Hope Tournament in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (Nov. 20-22). Winthrop will face Mississippi State in the opener and either Oregon State or UC-Santa Barbara in the second game. Other teams in the 8-team tournament include Louisville, Gonzaga, Missouri State and Central Florida. The Eagles will jump into Big South Conference action on Dec. 18 at home against High Point and will host preseason favorite Liberty on Dec. 29.
