MU women picked for first

The Big East coaches are expecting big seasons from the Marquette men’s and women’s basketball teams this season.

The MU women were picked as cofavorites, along with DePaul, to win the conference title. Both schools received five first-place votes. The teams shared the regular-season crown last season with 15-3 conference records.

The MU men were picked to finish second behind Villanova, which has been chosen as the favorite for five straight seasons. The Wildcats finished second to Xavier last season but went on to win the NCAA Tournament.

It is the highest the Golden Eagles have been voted in a preseason poll since they were tabbed as favorites before the 2013-’14 season.

MU and Butler each received firstplace votes. Coaches aren’t allowed to vote for their own teams.

The MU women had four players selected to the 11-member all-Big East preseason team.

Senior guard Allazia Blockton was unanimously voted as the preseason conference player of the year. She went on to win that honor after averaging 19.1 points per game last season.

Fellow seniors Natisha Hiedeman, Amani Wilborn and Erika Davenport also were voted to the all-Big East team.

Davenport averaged 12.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game to earn allconference second-team honors last season. Wilborn garnered honorable mention after scoring 12.3 points per game. Hiedeman was second on MU with 13.4 points per game.

MU junior guard Markus Howard, who averaged 20.4 points per game last season, was named to the men’s preseason all-Big East first team along with Butler’s Kamar Baldwin, Georgetown’s Jessie Govan, Providence’s Alpha Diallo and Villanova’s Eric Paschall.

St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds was voted preseason player of the year.

MU junior forward Sam Hauser was a second-team pick. He averaged 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.