Lady Frogs picked third in MWC preseason poll
10/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 13, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY -- The TCU women's basketball team was picked third in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll released Thursday in Salt Lake City. The Lady Frogs did receive one first-place vote from the voting panel, which consisted of the league's nine head coaches and select women's basketball media.
The Utah Utes captured 23 of the 26 first-place votes and accumulated 214 points to finish first, followed by the New Mexico Lobos with 180 points. After TCU with 164 was UNLV (137), Colorado State (117), BYU (107), Wyoming (90), San Diego State (45) and Air Force (31).
Utah's Kim Smith was chosen as the Top Returning Player for a third consecutive season, while UNLV's Faye Mueller was selected Top Newcomer. Joining Smith on the Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team were Shona Thorburn of Utah, Shenna Moore of UNLV, Dionne Marsh from New Mexico and Colorado State's Melissa Dennett.
The 2005-06 season is the inaugural year for TCU with the Mountain West. The Lady Frogs return 10 of their 13 letterwinners from a team that finished with a 23-10 record and a Conference USA championship last season. TCU is one of just 16 teams in the country to win at least 20 games the past five years and one of 18 to make the past five NCAA Championships.
TCU hosts its first exhibition game Sunday, Nov. 6, versus NCAA Division II school Missouri Western at 2 p.m. CST in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The first regular-season contest is set for Friday, Nov. 18, against Long Beach State at 7 p.m. in DMC.
