Pac 12 Women's Basketball Preview
Women’s basketball will begin soon and the PAC 12 is stacked this season. With 5 programs gracing the preseason top 25, this conference will be one of the deepest in the country.
UCLA Bruins
2015-16: 26-9 Overall (14-4)
Preseason Ranking: 9
Last season the Bruins reached the Sweet 16 before their season came to a pretty predictable halt. They finished fourth in conference standings. The Bruins have been chosen to win the PAC 12 conference by the coaches for the first time in years. Their number one recruiting class of 2014 has finally matured and reached their junior season. Sixth year head coach Cori Close is ready to capitalize on their immense talent. Junior guard Jordin Canada, who averaged 16 points 5.7 assists and 2.3 steals a game, has been name to the 2017 Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. With the new Mo Ostin Center being built, the UCLA Bruins must return to winning tradition. Their season opens up with a few early exhibition games. Their earliest test will be Baylor on November 14th.
Stanford Cardinal
2015-16: 27-8 (14-4)
Preseason Ranking: 10
Stanford graduate Nneka Ogumike won MVP this season in the WNBA and she helped the Los Angeles Sparks win the WNBA finals as well. This program is one of most highly tenured in the PAC 12 conference and for good reason. They were once again chose to finish 2nd in conference play. Last season this team reached the Elite 8. Their core is returning this season as only two players were seniors on last years roster. This Cardinals squad is poised to win another conference title and make a deep tournament run.
University of Washington Huskies
2015-16: 26-11 (11-7)
Preseason Ranking: 15
This team seemed to get hot at the right time. While they weren’t ranked high toward the end of the season, and they didn’t do too well in the conference tournament, the Huskies did reach the Final Four. Standout guard Kelsey Plum is another player on the Nancy Lieberman watchlist. Plum not only led the conference in scoring with 25.9 points per game, she also is now the Huskies all-time leading scorer. Head coach Mike Neighbors is in his 4th year and has truly rebuilt this program. The Huskies were voted to finish 3rd in the conference by the media. We’ll see if these veterans can carry this program to the Promised Land once again.
