Women’s Basketball Tabbed No. 8 in Associated Press Preseason Poll
November 03, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Louisville is opening the year in the AP Poll’s top 10 for the fourth time in program history.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville women's basketball team is opening the 2015-16 season ranked eighth in the Associated Press' preseason poll, which was announced Tuesday morning.
The Cardinals begin the year in the poll's top 10 for the fourth time in program history after finishing the 2014-15 campaign in the same position. Louisville went 27-7 a year ago, including a 12-4 mark in its inaugural year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.
The ACC leads the conferences in preseason ranked teams with six.
Louisville, which also ranks in the top 10 in four other preseason polls, returns two of the top players in the conference in All-Americans and sophomores Mariya Moore and Myisha Hines-Allen. Louisville is sixth in the Lindy's Magazine Poll, eighth in the USA Today Coaches and Athlon Sports polls, and ninth in the espnW Poll.
Moore, a preseason all-ACC selection, paced Louisville a season ago in scoring (13.4), while totaling 121 assists and 55 steals. She ranked 20th in the conference in scoring, reaching double-digit points on 25 occasions, and boasted a conference best 1.5 assist-turnover ratio.
Hines-Allen, the most effective shooter on the team last year, averaged 11.8 points on a 55.8 percent clip and 4.9 rebounds. She ranked 13th nationally in shooting percentage and capped the season with a team-best 12.8 points per game average in the postseason.
Louisville's incoming class, consisting of Taja Cole, Erin DeGrate, the top-ranked recruit in Asia Durr, Sam Fuehring, and Brianna Jones, was selected as the best by multiple recruiting services and bolstered the Cardinals' preseason ranking.
Durr, who was named to the ACC Newcomer Watch List, finished her prep career with 2,764 points on better than 50 percent shooting, 706 rebounds, 254 assists, 266 steals, and 75 blocks. She was a two-time Miss Georgia Basketball selection and named an All-American as a senior by McDonald's, Parade Magazine, the WBCA, and the Naismith Trophy.
Based on the preseason poll, the Cardinals face eight top-25 opponents: Notre Dame (No. 3), Florida State (No. 7), Duke (No. 14), Kentucky (No. 18), South Florida (No. 20), North Carolina (No. 22), Syracuse (No. 23), and Michigan State (No. 24).
Louisville opens the year on Nov. 15 at the KFC Yum! Center against 2013 Final Four foe California. Season ticket information is available on GoCards.com.
For the latest information on Louisville women's basketball, log on to GoCards.com, or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/UofLWBB or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UofLWBB.
| Associated Press Preseason Poll (Nov. 3) | ||
| Rk. | School | Points |
| 1. | UConn (32) | 800 |
| 2. | South Carolina | 758 |
| 3. | Notre Dame | 714 |
| 4. | Tennessee | 711 |
| 5. | Baylor | 672 |
| 6. | Ohio State | 570 |
| 7. | Florida State | 551 |
| 8. | Louisville | 541 |
| 9. | Maryland | 536 |
| 10. | Oregon State | 518 |
| 11. | Mississippi State | 465 |
| 12. | Texas | 459 |
| 13. | Texas A&M | 397 |
| 14. | Duke | 392 |
| 15. | Arizona State | 347 |
| 16. | Stanford | 338 |
| 17. | Oklahoma | 264 |
| 18. | Kentucky | 241 |
| 19. | Northwestern | 209 |
| 20. | South Florida | 202 |
| 21. | George Washington | 171 |
| 22. | North Carolina | 94 |
| 23. | Syracuse | 74 |
| 24. | Michigan State | 61 |
| 25. | Chattanooga | 60 |
