After going 24-5, winning the WAC regular season title and WAC tournament championship last season what can BYU's women's basketball team do for an encore?
How about doing it all again. After all, it is expected of them. The Cougars were picked Thursday by the WAC's coaches as the league favorite for the 1993-94 season. San Diego State finished second in the coaches' poll, followed by Utah, Wyoming, Colorado State, UTEP, Fresno State and New Mexico."It will be a tough act to follow," said BYU coach Jeanie Wilson of last season's successful campaign. "We may be more talented (this year), but it will be hard to do that again."
The Cougars return three starters from last year's team, all-WAC junior center Debbie Dimond (14.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg), all-WAC junior guard Thais Kidd (13.7 ppg, 3.9 apg) and forward Nikki Eyre. A fourth returning starter, forward Kim Henry, is out for the season with a knee injury. Wilson said Henry will likely be replaced by Ricks College transfer Camille Woodbury in the starting lineup while freshman Liz Pinegar from Mountain View High will also see action at that position. Point guard Tomika Young graduated, but Kidd is expected to move over from her shooting guard position to play some point with transfer Cynthia Pierce filling in. Sophomore guard Behka Safford gives the Cougs a constant 3-point threat.
"BYU worries me inside, outside and in between," said San Diego State coach Beth Burns. "They are good at every position."
BYU will open the season Nov. 26 in the four-team St. Mary's Tipoff Tournament.
Utah finished in a tie for second in the WAC last year and placed second in the league tourney. But the Utes were hurt by the graduation of a couple of key players, most notably three time all-WAC selection Mikki Kane-Barton.
The Utes return the starting backcourt of Pam Nielsen and Kim Hill as well as sharpshooting forward Andrea Herold. Kane-Barton's forward position will be filled by sophomore Angie Bandy, while seldom-used center Kris Griffin will be counted on much more this season. Hilary King, a freshman from Layton High, was initially set to redshirt, but Utah coach Elaine Elliott said King has been impressive in practice and will contribute to the team this year.
"BYU and San Diego State are head and shoulders more talented than the rest of us," said Elliott. Still, Elliott said her team's goal, as always, will be to win the WAC title.
The Utes have a tough preseason schedule with just four home games. Utah opens on the road Nov. 26 against No. 13 ranked Western Kentucky before coming home to host sixth-ranked Stanford.
San Diego State returns all five starters from last year's second place WAC team that earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1993-94 WAC coaches poll
(first place votes in parentheses)
School Pts
1. BYU 47 (5)
2. San Diego St. 45 (3)
3. Utah 37
4. Wyoming 27
5. Colorado St. 21
(tie) UTEP 21
7. Fresno St. 14
8. New Mexico 12