With the 2019-20 women's basketball season less than two weeks away, the league's nine head coaches and selected media each chose their own preseason favorites as well as a six-member All-Conference team. The top half of both preseason polls featured the same clubs although with different favorites atop the list in three-time defending regular season champion UC Davis and upstart UC Irvine. Both entities also placed four of the same six players on the preseason All-Conference team led by returning first team choices Jordan Sanders of UCI and Jannon Otto of UC Riverside.
Below are team capsules of the top half of the polls while the full preseason polls and All-Conference teams are listed below and in the provided link.
UC DAVIS (2nd Coaches, 1st Media)
• 2018-19 Record: 25-7 (15-1 Big West)
• Letterwinners Returning: 8
• Starters Returning: 2
• Newcomers 5
• Head Coach: Jennifer Gross (9th season - 156-98)
• Returning All-Conference players: Nina Bessolo (HM)
• Three-time defending Big West regular season champion, claimed league Tournament title last year for the first time since 2011
• Have won 25 games in three consecutive seasons, only the third Big West program to accomplish that feat
• Aggies have won 231 games since joining the Big West in 2007-08, 41 more than the next best team
UC IRVINE (1st Coaches, 2nd Media)
• 2018-19 Record: 20-11 (8-8 Big West)
• Letterwinners Returning: 8
• Starters Returning: 4
• Newcomers 4
• Head Coach: Tamara Inoue (4th season - 43-51)
• Returning All-Conference players: Jordan Sanders (1st), Lauren Saiki (HM)
• 20 victories last year tied the 1983-84 team for second-most in school history and was only the third 20-win campaign in program lore
• Seeking first Big West Tournament title since 1995 and first regular season crown in program history
• A year ago nine players averaged 10+ minutes per game and seven averaged at least 4.5 points per game
UC RIVERSIDE (3rd Coaches, 3rd Media)
• 2018-19 Record: 17-16 (10-6 Big West)
• Letterwinners Returning: 9
• Starters Returning: 4
• Newcomers 4
• Interim Head Coach: Seyram Bell (1st season)
• Returning All-Conference players: Jannon Otto (1st), Marina Ewodo (2nd), Daphne Gnago (Freshman)
• Highlanders were +8 in the overall win column and +4 in the conference ledger last year than in 2017-18
• Otto was the first UCR player named to the first team All-Conference list since 2016
• Club will play nine of 13 non-conference games on the road including PAC-12 foes California, Arizona and Final Four participant Oregon
HAWAI'I (4th Coaches, 4th Media)
• 2018-19 Record: 15-17 (10-6 Big West)
• Letterwinners Returning: 7
• Starters Returning: 2
• Newcomers 6
• Interim Head Coach: Laura Beeman (8th season - 117-101)
• Returning All-Conference players: Courtney Middap (HM), Myrrah Joseph (Freshman)
• Advanced to Tournament championship game a year ago, the Bows' third appearance in the last five championship games
• 10 conference wins last year were most since 2015-16
• UH appeared in the WNIT a year ago, its 10th showing in the postseason tourney and first postseason bid since 2015-16. Under Laura Beeman, UH has appeared in the postseason five times
(4 WNIT, 1 NCAA) since her first season in 2012-13
COACHES PRE-SEASON POLL
1. UC Irvine (6) - 77
2. UC Davis (2) - 70
3. UC Riverside (1) - 60
4. Hawai'i - 52
5. Cal Poly - 35
6. UC Santa Barbara - 34
7. CSUN - 33
8. Long Beach State - 29
9. Cal State Fullerton - 15
( ) First-place votes
COACHES PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Shanaijah Davison, Long Beach State
Nina Bessolo, UC Davis
Jordan Sanders, UC Irvine
Jannon Otto, UC Riverside
Marina Ewodo, UC Riveride
Coco Miller, UC Santa Barbara
MEDIA PRE-SEASON POLL
1. UC Davis (8) - 113
2. UC Irvine (4) - 104
3. UC Riverside (1) - 94
4. Hawai'i (1) - 82
5. CSUN - 69
6. Long Beach State - 53
7. Cal State Fullerton - 44
8. Cal Poly - 38
9. UC Santa Barbara - 33
( ) First-place votes
MEDIA PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Raina Perez, Cal State Fullerton
Shanaijah Davison, Long Beach State
Jordan Sanders, UC Irvine
Lauren Saiki, UC Irvine
Jannon Otto, UC Riverside
Coco Miller, UC Santa Barbara