Oregon tops poll; Stanford is No. 3
The Associated Press released its women’s college basketball preseason poll Wednesday and the top of it has a heavy Bay Area feel.
At No. 1 for the first time in school history is Oregon, led by MiramonteOrinda alum Sabrina Ionescu, an NCAA record breaker.
Fresh off their first Final Four appearance, the Ducks received 25 of the 28 firstplace votes from the national media panel to grab the top spot.
Ionescu, a 5foot11 guard who won virtually every player of the year award of note last season, enters her senior year as the alltime NCAA leader — men or women — in tripledoubles with 18.
“I think it validates our vision that we had going in here,” Oregon head coach Kelly Graves told the AP. “It validates the hard work from my staff that’s been with me the whole journey. On this stage, we had a better opportunity to be in position we now are.”
Defending national champion Baylor — which received the other three firstplace votes — is at No. 2, just ahead of Stanford.
Head coach Tara VanDerveer’s Cardinal are coming off a 315 season that ended in the Elite Eight. Stanford also boasts one of the strongest recruiting classes in its history, led by Mitty’s Haley Jones, who was named the the Naismith National Girls Player of the Year last season.
Jones, who’s 61, averaged 26.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while guiding the Monarchs to a 253 season and the No. 1 ranking in The Chronicle’s Metro rankings for the second straight year.
Jones is one of three incoming freshmen — the Colorado duo of Fran Belibi, a 61 dunking sensation, and 65 forward Ashten Prechtel are the others — named McDonald’s AllAmericans. In addition, Hannah Jump (PinewoodLos Altos Hills) was ranked by ESPN HoopGurlz as one of the top 50 recruits last season.
Maryland and UConn round out the top five; the Huskies have been ranked in the top five for 239 consecutive weeks, since January 2007.
No. 6 Texas A&M has its best ranking since the Aggies were fifth Dec. 29, 2014. Oregon State, South Carolina, Louisville and Mississippi State complete the top 10.
Tennessee isn’t ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1976, ending a 42year streak. The Lady Vols, who saw their remarkable run of 565 weeks ranked in the poll end in 2016, fell out of the rankings Jan. 14 last season and didn’t return to the Top 25. They changed coaches in the spring, bringing back former guard Kellie Harper to coach the team.
No. 16 Notre Dame, coming off two trips to the national championship game, is out of the top 10 for the first time since Jan. 17, 2011. Head coach Muffet McGraw lost all five starters to the WNBA, and two top reserves from last year transferred. It is the team’s worst preseason ranking since the Irish were ranked 16th in 2008.