South Carolina women’s basketball ranked 2nd in coaches preseason poll
BY: TYRIA GOINES
COLUMBIA S.C. — South Carolina women’s basketball team is once again ranked near the top of the coaches 2017-2018 preseason poll.
The Gamecocks checked in at No. 2 in the poll, right under Connecticut. Dawn Staley’s squad did receive seven of 32 first-place votes as the defending national champions.
USC returns All-American forward A’ja Wilson for this season, but is without three WNBA picks — Allisha Gray, Kaela Davis, and Alaina Coates.
Connecticut returns five of its top six scorers from last season, which went 36-1 and lost to Mississippi State in the Final Four.
UConn and South Carolina will face off this season on Feb. 1, at the Colonial Life Arena, in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks will face six to seven of the teams ranked in the top 20 of the poll: No. 18 Tennessee, No.16 Missouri,, No. 13 Maryland, No. 12 Duke, No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 1 Connecticut and No.5 Notre Dame should both teams advance through the Gulf Coast Showcase tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.
Three other South Carolina foes this season, Texas A&M, Kentucky and LSU, received votes in the poll.
The other major women’s basketball poll, organized by the Associated Press, will be released on the morning of Nov. 2, with the AP’s preseason All-American team following on Nov. 7.
