Women’s Basketball Coaches Select Preseason All-League Team

Chattanooga’s Katasha Brown tabbed preseason Player of the Year

SPARTANBURG, SC -- The Southern Conference announced the 2005-06 women’s basketball preseason all-league team this morning. The 10-member squad is selected by the league’s head coaches; coaches are not allowed to vote for their own players.

Eight schools were represented on the team, which features preseason Player of the Year Katasha Brown from Chattanooga. Brown was the 2004 Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player at the 2004 Women’s Basketball Championships, becoming only the second player in league history to record both honors in the same season. In 2005, Brown earned All-SoCon honors once again from the media and the coaches. UNC Greensboro’s Kristen Boone, who was the 2004-05 Freshman of the Year, was also selected to the team. Boone was the league-leader in steals last year with 121, an average of almost 4.32 per game.

Chattanooga and UNC Greensboro were the only two schools to place multiple players on the preseason team, as Tiffani Roberson and Nicole Mattison joined Brown for the Lady Mocs and Jasmine Byrd joined Boone on the team as UNC Greensboro’s representatives. Roberson, a member of the SoCon coaches All-Conference team at the end of last season, enters 2005-06 after finishing third in the league in field goal percentage (.504) in 2004-05. Mattison, a coaches All-Conference selection in 2004-05, enters the season looking to add to her assist total from last season. The guard finished with 130 assists (4.33 per game) to sit second overall in the SoCon at the conclusion of last year. Byrd was lethal from the free throw line for UNCG, hitting 81.8-percent of her free throws to finish third in the league in that department.

Furman’s Tommi Paris led the SoCon in free throw percentage last year after connecting on 86.8-percent of her attempts from the line. Paris is joined on the team by another category leader, as College of Charleston’s Marketta Talley, the league leader in assists last season after averaging 4.90 a game on 142 dimes, has a spot on the squad. Appalachian State’s Kiki Conyers, Georgia Southern’s Nicole Newton and Western Carolina’s Chevon Keith round out the preseason team.

2005-06 Women’s Basketball Coaches Preseason Team

Kiki Conyers, Appalachian State

Marketta Talley, College of Charleston

Katasha Brown, Chattanooga

Tiffani Roberson, Chattanooga

Nicole Mattison, Chattanooga

Tommi Paris, Furman

Nicole Newton, Georgia Southern

Jasmine Byrd, UNC Greensboro

Kristen Boone, UNC Greensboro

Chevon Keith, Western Carolina

Preseason Player of the Year: Katasha Brown, Chattanooga

 Chattanooga Picked to Win Women’s Basketball Regular Season

SPARTANBURG, SC -- The Southern Conference women’s basketball coaches and media have cast their votes and selected Chattanooga to win the 2005-06 regular season title.

The Lady Mocs received nine of the 10 first-place votes in the coaches poll and all of the first-place votes in the media poll. Chattanooga looks to defend its six-year reign as the regular season champion of the Southern Conference. The Lady Mocs won the 2004-05 regular season title, but fell short in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament last season. The Mocs still played in the postseason, posting a 50-40 win in the first round of the WNIT over Villanova before seeing their championship hopes dashed in a 91-54 loss to Kentucky in their next outing. UTC returns eight players from last year’s squad, including the 2005 Preseason Player of the Year in Katasha Brown.

Georgia Southern was picked to finish second in both polls. Head coach Rusty Cram, who is one win shy of 100 conference victories, returns nine players from last year’s team, including preseason All-SoCon pick Nicole Newton. The coaches selected UNC Greensboro to finish third in 2005-06 while the media selected Davidson in the third slot. Furman earned the fourth spot in both polls.

Western Carolina was picked to finish tied with Davidson in the fifth while the media picked Western Carolina to finish fifth. UNC Greensboro finished sixth in the media poll, followed by Appalachian State, College of Charleston, Elon and Wofford. The coaches selected the College of Charleston to finish seventh, followed by Appalachian State, Elon and Wofford.

The women’s basketball season kicks off Friday, November 18. The first conference match-up will be Friday, December 16 as Chattanooga travels to Elon and Appalachian State hosts College of Charleston

2005-06 Coaches Preseason Poll

1.     Chattanooga (9)          81

2.     Georgia Southern (1)  70

3.     UNC Greensboro        59

4.     Furman                          55

5.     Davidson                       44

        Western Carolina        44

7.     College of Charleston                39

8.     Appalachian State       32

9.     Elon                                14

10.  Wofford                          12

2005-06 Media Preseason Poll

1. Chattanooga (19)            190

2. Georgia Southern           143

3. Davidson                          140

4. Furman                             138

5. Western Carolina            109

6. UNC Greensboro            99

7. Appalachian State           80

8. College of Charleston    78

9. Elon                                   40

10. Wofford                           28