Stanford women picked to win Pac-12 basketball

Stanford has returned as the Pac-12 favorite in women’s basketball now that East Bay native Sabrina Ionescu has graduated from the University of Oregon.

The Cardinal is the consensus favorite to win the Pac-12 regular-season title crown according to votes by the league’s coaches and media members. The Cardinal, ranked second in the Associated Press’ preseason poll behind South Carolina, got 19 of the 21 firstplace votes in the media poll and 10 top picks from the coaches, the Pac-12 announced Tuesday.

A dd it ion a l ly, Ha le y Jones, Lexie Hull and Kiana Williams were each named to the Pac-12 preseason allconference team.

Arizona, a school that has not had much success in the past two decades, was picked second in both polls. The Wildcats tied threetime defending champion Oregon for second in the coaches’ vote. The Ducks were ranked third by media voters without Ionescu, the only NCAA Division I player to have 2,000 points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds in a career.

Cal, which opens the season Nov. 25 against San Jose State, was picked ninth in the media poll and 10th by the coaches.

Cal sophomore guard Jazlen Green earned preseason all-Pac-12 honorable mention.

Stanford’s sophomore class led by San Jose-Archbishop Mitty alumna Jones is expected to have a big season. The Cardinal also have a promising freshman class led by Cameron Brink, a 6-foot- 4 forward from Beaverton, Oregon.

Cal has six freshmen and four sophomores as coach Charmin Smith rebuilds the program.