Lady Toppers picked third in preseason Sun Belt East polls
October 26, 2011
The Lady Toppers will likely have to exceed the
expectations of Sun Belt Conference coaches this season if they
wish to qualify for postseason play.
WKU was picked to finish third in the Sun Belt East
Division in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll, released Tuesday
morning.
Middle Tennessee State garnered 68 overall votes in
the poll, with a league-high nine first-place votes, good for first
in the East.
Following the Lady Raiders in the division was
Florida International (58, 1) WKU (48, 1) South Alabama (38)
Florida Atlantic (23, 1) and Troy (17).
Denver received 62 overall votes (six first-place) to
be picked first in the West division, edging Arkansas State (56, 1)
and defending league champion Arkansas Little-Rock (53, 3).
Rounding out the West Division was Louisiana-Monroe
(29), North Texas (28, 1) and Louisiana-Lafayette (24, 1).
Head Coach Mary Taylor Cowles said Monday on the Sun
Belt Media Day teleconference she thinks the league is as strong as
ever.
“I feel like our league has continued to strengthen,
not only with the players that are playing the game but with the
coaches that are on the sideline,” Cowles said. “And that’s a lot
of fun to be a part of and coach against.”
Last season the Lady Toppers went 9-7 in regular
season conference play before bowing out of the Sun Belt Tournament
with a 66-59 loss to UALR.
Forward LaTeira Owens earned preseason second-team
all-league honors.
The 6-foot-1 senior averaged 10.5 points and 6.6
rebounds a game last season, and is the Lady Toppers’ leading
returning scorer.
She was the only WKU player named to any of the three
preseason All-Sun Belt teams.
“(LaTeira) and I had our longest talk in the spring
after the season and it’s just kind of ironic that the league
thinks of her like this,” Cowles said. “She could’ve cared less
about this. She’s extremely focused and self-driven and I know this
senior season means a lot to her.”
Denver senior Kaetlyn Murdoch and MTSU sophomore
Ebony Rowe were voted Co-Preseason Players of the Year in the
league.