DENVER – The NM State women's basketball team was voted as the favorite to win the Western Athletic Conference in the 2016-17 WAC Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches and Media Poll, the conference announced on Wednesday. Shawnte' Goff of UT Rio Grande Valley was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year.
Senior guard
Moriah Mack was chosen as a member of the All-WAC First Team in both polls. The Texas native earned First Team All-WAC and WAC All-Defensive team honors in 2015-16 after she averaged 11.7 points and 5.4 rebounds to go with her 50 assists, 40 steals, and 46.2 field goal percentage.
In the head coaches poll, NM State tallied 7-of-8 possible first-place votes for a total of 49 points. UTRGV came in second with 42 points and the remaining first-place vote as Grand Canyon garnered 34 points for third. CSU Bakersfield tallied 29 points while UMKC (26), Utah Valley (23), Seattle U. (13) and Chicago State (8) rounded out the rest of the league.
In the media poll, the Aggies earned six first place votes to total 90 points which just beat out UTRGV, who earned five first place votes to finish with 88 points. The media poll was quite similar to that of the coaches poll except Utah Valley was predicted to finish fifth and UMKC in sixth. CSU Bakersfield received the only other first place vote.
Joining Mack on the preseason first-team list is senior
Brianna Freeman in the coaches poll. NM State led the pack with two players selected while Grand Canyon, UTRGV and Utah Valley each received one.
In the media poll, Freeman and
Brooke Salas earned second-team honors. The Aggies also tied with UTRGV for the lead with three honorees in the media poll.
2016-17 Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
NM State (7) |
49 |
| 2. |
UT Rio Grande Valley (1) |
42 |
| 3 |
Grand Canyon |
34 |
| 4. |
CSU Bakersfield |
29 |
| 5. |
UMKC |
26 |
| 6. |
Utah Valley |
23 |
| 7. |
Seattle U. |
13 |
| 8. |
Chicago State |
8 |
2016-17 Preseason Women's Basketball Media Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
NM State (6) |
90 |
| 2. |
UT Rio Grande Valley (5) |
88 |
| 3. |
Grand Canyon |
64 |
| 4. |
CSU Bakersfield (1) |
55 |
| 5. |
Utah Valley |
50 |
| 6. |
UMKC |
44 |
| 7. |
Seattle U. |
26 |
| 8. |
Chicago State |
15 |
