The LeTourneau University women's basketball team has been picked to finish eighth in the American Southwest Conference after a vote by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media members, the conference office announced Monday.
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The YellowJackets are coming off a 2013-14 season, where they advanced to the American Southwest Conference Tournament for only the second time in program history and posted an 11-15 record. The end of the season also marked the end of the Corey Thomaston era and
Leslie Reinecker was hired as the new head coach on June 25. LeTourneau return many valuable contributors to the success in 2013-14 including three - Â
Rebecca Stewart (Sr., Stafford, Texas),
Ashley Stephens (Jr., Houston, Texas) and
Ashley Reed (So., Cedar Hill, Texas) - who were named to the conference's watch list.
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Texas-Tyler, who won the regular season and conference title in 2013-14, was the preseason poll favorite with 21 of 24 first-place votes. Texas Dallas was slated to finish second with two first place votes, followed by Mary Hardin-Baylor was third with 200 points, while Howard Payne received the other first place vote and 195 points. Then, Louisiana College, Concordia Texas and Hardin-Simmons were picked ahead of LETU.
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LeTourneau will play its first six contests including an exhibition game against NCAA Division I member, Northwestern State away from home before opening the home portion against Texas-Tyler on December 16 at 5:30 p.m.
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ASC Women's Basketball Preseason PollNo. | Team (First-place votes) | Pts. | 2014 Record |
1. | Texas-Tyler (21) | 260 | 27-4/20-2 ASC |
2. | Texas Dallas (2) | 227 | 21-6/17-5 ASC |
3. | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 200 | 18-10/16-6 ASC |
4. | Howard Payne (1) | 195 | 16-10/15-7 ASC |
5. | Louisiana College | 172 | 16-11/13-9 ASC |
6. | Concordia Texas | 144 | 11-15/9-13 ASC |
7. | Hardin-Simmons | 118 | 8-178-14 ASC |
8. | LeTourneau | 89 | 11-15/9-13 ASC |
9. | Ozarks | 79 | 10-16/9-13 ASC |
10. | East Texas Baptist | 74 | 9-16/7-15 ASC |
11. | Sul Ross State | 26 | 1-24/0-22 ASC |
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