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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PREVIEW FROM PAGE 7
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2011
For the third consecutive season, the Baylor Bears were picked to win the Big 12 conference. The Bears received all nine possible first place votes in anticipation of a repeat conference title.
The Bears will be led by their star junior post player, Brittney Griner. She's a first team All American and was the National Defensive Player of the Year
and a finalist for the Wooden Award last season. She averaged 23 points and 7.8 rebounds per game last season and totaled 170 blocks.
Along with the 6-foot-8 Griner, the Bears return three of their top four scorers from last season. Sophomore guard Odyssey Sims averaged 13.1 points per game and should get a numbers boost
KEY PLAYER LOSSES:
Melissa Jones
bore the boards the team made. lissa Jones gone, Forward junior Destiny Williams will be crucial to the Bears' season. Averaging 8.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game last season, Williams will provide another much needed post presence to provide relief for Griner.
The Bears are picked to finish at the top of the Big 12 standings and if things go well for the Bears, they could finish the year as the last team standing in college basketball.
KEY NEWCOMERS:
Sune Agbuke
Mike Vernon
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The Sooners were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 this season, but could give teams trouble down the line. The Sooners will need sophomore guard Aaryn Ellenberg to be even better than her impressive freshman campaign. Oklahoma's youth is the glaring cause for concern, but this is a team that could start out slow and improve as the season progresses. There will be some pressure on head coach Sherri Coale to mold an experienced but talented Sooner squad into a serious competitor in the Big 12.
KEY PLAYER LOSSES:
Carlee Roethlisberger
Lauren Willis
KEY NEWCOMERS:
DaShawn Harden
Katherine Zander
Sharane Campbell
Andrew Joseph
Fresh off a 19-14 record last season, coach Gail Goestenkors will showcase her new team in hopes of rebounding from a first round loss to Marquette in the NCAA tournament last season. The Longhorns are returning four starters from last season, including Big-Big 12 Freshman Team selection Chassidy Fussell, who led the team in scoring with 16.2 ppg, and senior Ashleigh Fontenette, who finished the season fourth on the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game and led the team with 128 assists. Also returning is sophomore Cokie Reed, who was rated as the fifth best high school prospect in 2009.
Replacing last year's seniors will be no easy task, but freshman Cassie Peoples looks to make an impression in her first year in a Longhorn uniform. Peoples was named the presseason Bie 12 Creef of the Year and was selected to play in the 2011 McDonald's All-American Game.
In the preseason coach's poli, the Longhorns were picked to finish third in the Big 12 behind Texas A&M and Baylor. They will tip off the regular season on November 11 against Stanford.
Jonathan Rosa
Last year Kelsey Botte led the Cyclones with 36 minutes played and 16.9 points per game. Botte's graduation leaves the Cyclones looking for a new leader, which will likely fall on senior guard Lauren Mansfield's shoulders. Mansfield averaged nine points and five assists last season in 31 minutes per game and will be joined in the backcourt by sophomore forward Hallie Christofferson, who shot 52 percent from the field last season.
Post play is the biggest question mark entering the year for the Cyclones, a team that will rely on junior forward Chelsea Poppens and junior center Anna Prins. Prins is a solid defensive option for the Cyclones, but she'll face one of the toughest post conferences in the country. The Cyclones should finish with another top five conference performance and NCAA tournament appearance in 2012.
— Trevor Graff
KEY NEWCOMERS:
Nichole Moody
KEY PLAYER LOSSES:
Kelsey Bolte
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