University of San Francisco Athletics

LAS VEGAS — Following back-to-back top-five finishes in the West Coast Conference, the new-look San Francisco women's basketball team was picked to finish eighth in this season's West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, announced Wednesday by the conference office at the annual #WCChoops Tip-Off event at the Orleans Arena.
 
The Dons (16-15, 10-8 WCC in 2017-18) were only four points behind the sixth spot in the poll, collecting 31 total points. San Francisco was picked seventh in last season's poll and went on to finish among the conference's top-five for the second straight year and make its fourth consecutive appearance in the WCC Championship Tournament semifinals.
 
USF welcomes eight newcomers in 2018-19 – all true freshmen – with seven of them coming from the international stage. The Dons also lost three starters and six letterwinners overall from last year's team. That has left the other conference members what to make of the Dons.
 
"Our goal is to find some consistency this year," said San Francisco head coach Molly Goodenbour. "With all the new people we have, we still need to find out the kids' strengths and weaknesses and be able to find some consistency by the time conference play starts. It'll be good to play a couple games to know where we are. I think all the kids we have, they're going to be good."
 
Despite all the fresh faces, San Francisco does return two starters from last year's squad in senior guard Shannon Powell and junior forward Moa Lundqvuist. Powell was among the team's top-three last year in scoring (12.2 points per game), rebounding (5.3 rebounds per game) and 3-point shooting (35.8 percent). Lundqvuist was one of the WCC's top rebounders in 2017-18 with 7.1 boards per contest (t-10th).
 
Gonzaga (27-6, 17-1 WCC) claimed 79 points to finish atop the preseason poll after taking the double in both 2017 and 2018 with the WCC regular season and championship crowns both years. Saint Mary's (20-11, 13-5 WCC) received two first place votes and was the preseason pick to finish second in the conference with 73 points. The Gaels were followed by BYU (16-4, 11-7 WCC) in third with 66 points and the final first-place vote.
 
Loyola Marymount (19-11, 11-7) and San Diego (17-15, 8-10) were picked fourth and fifth with 52 and 49 points, respectively. Four points separated the sixth, seventh and eighth spots on the poll between Santa Clara, Pacific and San Francisco. The Broncos (9-21, 5-13) were selected sixth with 35 points with the Tigers (15-17, 7-11) finishing one point ahead of the Dons (16-15, 10-8) with a 32-to-31-point edge. Pepperdine and Portland round out the preseason poll with the Waves collecting 24 points for ninth followed by the Pilots with nine.
 
San Francisco kicks off the 2018-19 season at home on Nov. 9 versus South Bay foe San Jose State. The Dons begin WCC play on Dec. 29 at home versus San Diego. The 2019 WCC Championship Tournament – now in its 11th consecutive year at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, will take place from March 7-12, 2019.

2018-19 WCC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

Place	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points
1.	Gonzaga (7)	79
2.	Saint Mary's (2)	73
3.	BYU (1)	66
4.	Loyola Marymount	52
5.	San Diego	49
6.	Santa Clara	35
7.	Pacific	32
8.	San Francisco	31
9.	Pepperdine	24
10.	Portland	9

2018-19 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON ALL-WCC TEAM

Name	School	Yr.	Pos.
Brenna Chase	BYU	Jr.	G
Gabby Green	Loyola Marymount	Sr.	G
Sara Hamson	BYU	So.	C
Megan McKay	Saint Mary's	Sr.	F
Myah Pace	San Diego	So.	G
Sydney Raggio	Saint Mary's	Sr.	F
Zykera Rice	Gonzaga	Sr.	F
Yasmine Robinson-Bacote	Pepperdine	Sr.	F
Chandler Smith	Gonzaga	Sr.	G
Laura Stockton	Gonzaga	Sr.	G