It was business as usual in the Big East Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll. The University of Connecticut took the top spot. Junior forward Sarah Strong was voted Big East Preseason Player of the Year and guard Olivia Vukosa was voted Preseason Freshman of the Year. While those forecasts are likely to follow form, that did not dim the enthusiasm of the other conference teams.
“We’re going to be a very great team this year; we have a lot of depth,” said MacKenzie Givens, guard-forward from Marquette University, which finished sixth in the preseason poll, at Big East Basketball Media Day. “We’re excited to see how far we will go.”
The excitement has an extra level heading into the season because the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament will expand from 68 to 76 teams. “You’re giving a hundred student-athletes the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Seton Hall University head coach Anthony Bozzella.
“I feel we have a lot of versatility; I’m happy to see how this season pans out,” said Destiny Agubata, a junior guard studying physics at Georgetown University, which finished eighth in the poll. Given Georgetown’s academic rigor, its student-athletes value not only their basketball performance but also excellence in the classroom. “It’s always been a value that my parents instilled in me and my siblings from an early age.”
Xavier University is ninth in the poll, but head coach Billi Chambers, now in her fourth year at the reins, sees this as a breakthrough season. “We have a great young group of women who are committed to the way that we want to play, and I think we have an opportunity to take a big step,” she said.
Seeing DePaul University 11th (last) in the preseason poll did not dissuade senior forward Zoey Ward, a transfer from Iona University. She dressed to impress in a blue suit with gold heels, knowing she was setting the tone for NIL opportunities. “I wanted to be classy and really pretty. I know I’m an athlete … but here I wanted to look cute,” she said. On the court, Ward is optimistic for a solid season and wants to keep building, knowing the NCAA has ruled that all student-athletes may be granted a fifth year. “I’m hoping to leave it all on the floor,” she said.
