Three Lady Bears make Preseason All-Big 12 Team, Baylor picked to win conference
After an undefeated Big 12 campaign last season that led to a national championship, the latest news comes as no surprise: For the second season in a row, Baylor is the overwhelming favorite to win the conference.
The Big 12 announced last week that the Lady Bears received nine of 10 first-place votes to take first in the preseason poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams, which means Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey supplied Texas with its sole first-place vote.
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Texas took second in the preseason poll, West Virginia took third and Iowa State took fourth. It’s a bit of a shuffle from last season’s final standings, which saw Iowa State in second, Texas in third and West Virginia in fourth.
The rest of the poll saw Kansas State (which tied West Virginia in fourth last season) in fifth, followed by Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas Tech and Kansas.
Although Baylor lost two key members of its starting lineup, its two expected stars this year both made early names for themselves on Wednesday as Big 12 preseason award picks.
Lauren Cox was selected as Preseason Player of the Year after averaging 13.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game for the Lady Bears in 2018-19. At the end of the season, Cox was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year.
Te’a Cooper, Baylor’s graduate transfer from South Carolina, was voted Preseason Newcomer of the Year. Cooper made the 2018-19 All-SEC Second Team and averaged 11.9 points per game in her one season with the Gamecocks.
Preseason Freshman of the Year honors went to Texas’ Celeste Taylor. The No. 40 prospect was New York’s Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year for 2018-19 and appeared in the 2019 McDonald’s All-American Game.
Rounding out the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, led by Cox, are Baylor’s Juicy Landrum and NaLyssa Smith, Texas’ Joyner Holmes and Sug Sutton, Kristin Scott (Iowa State), Peyton Williams (Kansas State), Ana Llanusa (Oklahoma), Vivian Gray (Oklahoma State), (Texas), Brittany Brewer (Texas Tech) and Tynice Martin (West Virginia).
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