Women's Basketball: Preseason all-Big East Teams
October 30, 2003 09:43 AM | General
October 30, 2003
NEWARK, N.J. – University of Connecticut senior guard Diana Taurasi is the unanimous choice for the 2003-04 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by a vote of the league’s head women’s basketball coaches. Notre Dame forward Crystal Erwin and UConn center Liz Sherwood share the Preseason Freshman of the Year honor. Coaches were not permitted to select their own players.
Taurasi, a Chino, Calif. native, was the consensus National Player of the Year after leading the Huskies to their second straight NCAA title last season. The two-time Kodak All-American was the 2003 Final Four and East Regional Most Outstanding Player and won the Honda Award for basketball.
Taurasi, the 2002-03 BIG EAST Player of the Year and a two-time All-BIG EAST First Team selection, ranks seventh on UConn’s all-time scoring list with 1,583 points. Last season she ranked in the top 10 among all league players in scoring (3rd, 17.9), field goal percentage (7th, .476), free throw percentage (5th, .815), 3-point field goals made (7th, 1.89), assists (8th, 4.35) and blocks (6th, 1.22).
Taurasi also won a 2003 ESPY Award for Best Female College Athlete. She scored 54 points in the 2003 Final Four for the fourth-highest two-game total in history. Erwin, a 6-2 forward from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., earned 2003 All-America honors from Parade Magazine and Street & Smith’s. The McDonald’s All-American averaged 22.3 points, 13.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocks during her prep career at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. Erwin holds school records for career points (2,720), rebounds (1,630) and blocks (380).
Sherwood attended Highlands Ranch (Colo.) High School where she was a teammate of current UConn guard Ann Strother. A 2003 WBCA, Parade and McDonald’s First Team All-American, Sherwood averaged 27.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.0 blocks as a senior. The 6-4 center was the 2003 Rocky Mountain News 5A State Player of the Year and a two-time first team all-state and all-conference performer.
In addition to Taurasi, three other members of the ‘03-04 Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team earned all-conference first team accolades at the end of last season - Georgetown senior forward Rebekkah Brunson, Virginia Tech senior forward Ieva Kublina and Rutgers junior guard Cappie Pondexter.
Brunson was the ‘02-03 league rebounding champion, Kublina led the conference in blocks and Pondexter was the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. Rounding out the preseason first team are junior forward Jacqueline Batteast of Notre Dame and Miami sophomore forward Tamara James, both All-BIG EAST Second Team performers a year ago.
2003-04 Preseason Player of the Year
*Diana Taurasi, Sr., G/F, 6-0, Connecticut (Chino, Calif./Don Lugo HS)
2003-04 Preseason Co-Freshmen of the Year
Crystal Erwin, Fr., F, 6-2, Notre Dame (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./St. Paul HS)
Liz Sherwood, Fr., C, 6-4, Connecticut (Castle Rock, Colo./Highlands Ranch HS)
Preseason All-BIG EAST First Team
Jacqueline Batteast, Jr., F, 6-2, Notre Dame
*Rebekkah Brunson, Sr., F, 6-3, Georgetown
Tamara James, So., G/F, 5-9, Miami
*Ieva Kublina, Sr., F/C, 6-4, Virginia Tech
*Cappie Pondexter, Jr., G, 5-9, Rutgers
*Diana Taurasi, Sr., G/F, 6-0, Connecticut
* - unanimous selection
Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team
Jessalyn Deveny, Jr., G, 5-9, Boston College
Julie McBride, Sr., G, 5-4, Syracuse
Courtney Mix, Sr., F, 5-10, Villanova
Ann Strother, So., G, 6-2, Connecticut
Barbara Turner, So., F, 6-0, Connecticut
