Marquette University Athletics
Quaye Named to Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
10/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 26, 2006
NEW YORK - Senior forward Christina Quaye was selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Women's Basketball Team, and Marquette was selected to finish eighth in the preseason poll, receiving 123 points.
Quaye was a second team all-conference selection in 2005-06. In her first season in the BIG EAST, she led the Golden Eagles with 13.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest.
MU finished 13 points behind USF (136), predicted to finish seventh in the poll, while tallying six more points than West Virginia, selected ninth. The poll is determined by a vote of the league's 16 head coaches who are not permitted to select their own teams.
The University of Connecticut, the two-time defending Conference Champion, was picked to win the 2006-07 BIG EAST women's basketball regular season title. In the 25 years of BIG EAST women's basketball, Connecticut has been crowned regular-season champs 14 times, while winning 13 tournament titles.
Connecticut garnered 11 of 16 possible first-place votes to total 221 points in the poll. UConn finished second last season in the regular-season standings with a record of 14-2 in conference play. The Huskies (32-5) advanced to the NCAA Championship Regional Final, the 18th consecutive year UConn earned a berth into the national tournament.
UConn will be led by 2006-07 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team member Renee Montgomery, who was named the 2006 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Junior Charde Houston, a 2006-07 Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention, and junior Mel Thomas will also be looked upon to guide the senior-less squad. Incoming freshman Tina Charles, from Christ the King High School in New York City, was selected as the Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Rutgers (27-5, 16-0) is the defending BIG EAST regular season champion after becoming the seventh team to go undefeated in conference play. The Scarlet Knights earned five first-place votes and a total of 215 points. RU advanced to the NCAA Regional Semifinal for the second straight year, before falling to second-seeded Tennessee in Cleveland, Ohio, the site of this year's Final Four. Preseason All-BIG EAST Team members, Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson, a pair of juniors, along with honorable mention selection sophomore Kia Vaughn, also will be counted on to lead a roster comprised of five freshmen, three sophomore, three juniors and no seniors.
DePaul grabbed 179 points to finish third in the preseason poll. Last season, the Blue Demons posted a record of 32-5 overall, 11-5 in the league. DePaul is coming off its best postseason effort in school history, advancing to its first-ever Sweet 16, before falling to LSU at the San Antonio Regional. Despite losing All-American Khara Smith, DePaul returns Preseason All-BIG EAST Team honoree junior Allie Quigley and 2005-06 All-BIG EAST Second Team pick senior Jenna Rubino. DPU returns 10 letterwinners and four starters that finished third in the BIG EAST standings.
Louisville was selected fourth with 176 points. The Cardinals are returning four of their top scorers and three of their five starters from last season's 19-10 team. UofL finished fifth in the regular-season standings with a 10-6 league mark. Louisville landed a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Championship Cleveland Region, but fell to USC in the first round. The Cardinals returned to the national tournament for the second straight season and the 10th time overall. Jazz Covington, All-American candidate and unanimous selection to the 2006-07 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, will use her senior leadership to keep the Cardinals in the national spotlight.
The 2007 BIG EAST Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Aéropostale will return to the Hartford Civic Center for the fourth straight year, as the conference celebrates its 25th championship. After a successful tournament in 2005, the four-day event returns March 3-6. The BIG EAST's top 12 teams will battle for the conference title and will earn the league's automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
2006-07 Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Connecticut (11), 221
2. Rutgers (5), 215
3. DePaul, 179
4. Louisville, 176
5. Pittsburgh, 152
6. St. John's, 148
7. USF, 136
8. Marquette, 123
9. West Virginia, 117
10. Villanova, 110
11. Notre Dame, 108
12. Cincinnati, 82
13. Georgetown, 57
14. Providence, 45
15. Syracuse, 30
16. Seton Hall, 21
2006-07 Preseason Player of the Year
Jessica Dickson, Sr., F, USF
2006-07 Preseason Freshman of the Year
Tina Charles, Fr., C, Connecticut (Jamaica, N.Y./Christ the King)
2006-07 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
Matee Ajavon, Jr., G, Rutgers
Essence Carson, Jr., G/F, Rutgers
Angela Clark, Sr., F, St. John's
*Jazz Covington, Sr., C, Louisville
*Jessica Dickson, Sr., F, USF
Renee Montgomery, So., G, Connecticut
Christina Quaye, Sr., F, Marquette
Allie Quigley, Jr., G, DePaul
Marcedes Walker, Jr., C, Pittsburgh
Mallorie Winn, R-Sr., G, Pittsburgh
*Kia Wright, R-Jr., G, St. John's
*unanimous selection
2006-07 Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Charde Houston, Jr., F, Connecticut
Treasure Humphries, Sr., G, Cincinnati
Kia Vaughn, So., C, Rutgers
