Women's Basketball Earns Preseason Ranking
Sep 18, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Sept. 18, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - - The Tulane women's basketball team has been ranked 12th nationally in the Athlon Sports preseason Top 25 poll according to the magazine's recently released College Basketball edition. The listing is Tulane's highest-ever preseason ranking.
"It is obviously a great honor to be so highly regarded in the national polls," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "We finished very strongly last season and hopefully that momentum will carry over to this year. Hopefully this ranking will help our fans get excited about the upcoming season. We know we have a lot of work to do to get ready, but we can't wait for the season to start. It should be another outstanding season of Tulane women's basketball."
The Green Wave return four starters and 13 letterwinners from last season's team that finished with 24 victories and reached the NCAA Tournament for the eighth consecutive season. Those 24 wins were the third-highest victory total in school history and marked the program's seventh consecutive 20-win season. The Wave also reached the championship game of the Conference USA Tournament for an unprecedented fourth year in a row.
All-American Teana McKiver will lead Tulane into the 2002-03 season. The senior ranked third nationally in field goal percentage, shooting at a 62.3 percent clip, while leading the Wave in scoring (16.4 points per game). McKiver won't carry the load herself, however, as the Wave should once again feature a balanced team. Senior Gwen Slaughter ranked as the team's top rebounder last season, while fellow senior Britt Themann has remarkable three-point range. Juniors Delacey Joseph, Kelly Nadeau and Tiffany Wilson all improved throughout the season and stepped up their contributions down the stretch.
Duke topped Athlon's preseason Top 25 and were followed in the top five by Tennessee, Kansas State, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame. The Green Wave will face four members of the Athlon Top 25 this season with games against No. 17 Purdue, No. 18 Louisiana Tech, No. 20 Cincinnati and No. 23 Houston. In addition, Colorado State, the team Tulane defeated in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, checked into the poll at No. 16.
The Green Wave open the 2002-03 season on Sun., Nov. 10 with a home exhibition against the Houston Jaguars. The regular season gets underway with a Nov. 22 contest at James Madison, while the Wave open the home porition of their schedule on Dec. 5 against Alabama State at Fogelman Arena.
