The UVA women’s basketball team has been predicted to finish sixth in the official 2017-18 Blue Ribbon Panel ACC Preseason Poll and fifth in a polling of the league’s head coaches, as announced Thursday (Oct. 19) by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Notre Dame received 35 first-place votes from Blue Ribbon panel voters and eight of the 15 from the head coaches to emerge as the favorite in both polls. Louisville received five first-place votes from the Blue Ribbon and one from the coaches to finish second in the balloting, followed by Duke and Florida State. In the Coaches’ poll, UVA followed Florida State for fifth place and were ranked just above Georgia Tech while the Blue Ribbon Panel placed the Cavaliers after Miami and ahead of Syracuse at sixth place in the rankings.
Redshirt senior guard Lexie Brown of Duke was named the 2017-18 ACC Preseason Player of the Year in the Blue Ribbon Panel while the coaches voted Louisville junior Asia Durr to the honor.
Virginia returns 10 letterwinners from last year’s team that finished with 20 wins. The Cavaliers have four starters back, including All-ACC Freshman Team selections Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) and Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.). Willoughby led UVA in rebounding (6.2 per game) and will be the top-returning scorer after averaging 9.8 points per contest a year ago.
The Cavaliers open the season on Friday, Nov. 10 at Mississippi State and begin the home campaign onSunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. when they host Central Connecticut State at 2 p.m.
2017 Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason Voting
Predicted Order of Finish
- Notre Dame (858 points, 35 first-place votes)
- Louisville (809 points, 5 first-place votes)
- Duke (799 points, 10 first-place votes)
- Florida State (752 points, 10 first-place votes)
- Miami (515 points)
- Virginia (505points)
- Syracuse (497 points)
- NC State (463 points)
- Georgia Tech (456 points)
- North Carolina (434 points)
- Virginia Tech (334 points)
- Wake Forest (316 points)
- Pittsburgh (193 points)
- Clemson (164 points)
- Boston College (86 points)
Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason ACC Player of the Year: Lexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke
Preseason All-ACC Team
- Lexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke
- Rebecca Greenwell, R-Sr., G, Duke
- Shakayla Thomas, Sr., F, Florida State
- Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville
- Myisha Hines-Allen, Sr., F, Louisville
- Stephanie Watts, Jr., G, North Carolina
- Paris Kea, R-Jr., G, North Carolina
- Arike Ogunbowale, Jr., G, Notre Dame
- Marina Mabrey, Jr., G, Notre Dame
- Chanette Hicks, Jr., G, Virginia Tech
Newcomer Watch List
- Mikayla Boykin, Fr., G, Duke
- Bego Faz Davalos, R-Sr., C, Duke
- Dana Evans, Fr., G, Louisville
- Janelle Bailey, Fr., C, North Carolina
- Lili Thompson, GS, G, Notre Dame
Preseason Coaches ACC Voting
Predicted Order of Finish
- Notre Dame (212 points, 8 first-place votes)
- Louisville (205 points, 1 first-place vote)
- Duke (200 points, 3 first-place votes)
- Florida State (188 points, 3 first place votes)
- Virginia (148 points)
- Georgia Tech (141 points)
- Syracuse (122 points)
- Miami (113 points)
- North Carolina (103 points)
- NC State (97 points)
- Wake Forest (90 points)
- Virginia Tech (82 points)
- Clemson (43 points)
- Pittsburgh (37 points)
- Boston College (19 points)
ACC Coaches’ Preseason Player of the Year: Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville
ACC Coaches’ Preseason All-ACC Team
- Lexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke
- Rebecca Greenwell, R-Sr., G, Duke
- Shakayla Thoams, Sr., F, Florida State
- Francesca Pan, So., G, Georgia Tech
- Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville
- Myisha Hines-Allen, Sr., F, Louisville
- Paris Kea, R-Jr., G, North Carolina
- Arike Ogunbowale, Jr., G, Notre Dame
- Marina Mabrey, Jr., G, Notre Dame
- Elisa Penna, So., G, Wake Forest
Newcomer Watch List
- Mikayla Boykin, Fr., G, Duke
- Lorela Cubaj, Fr., F, Georgia Tech
- Dana Evans, Fr., G, Louisville
- Janelle Bailey, Fr., C, North Carolina
- Lili Thompson, GS, G, Notre Dame
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Chris Graham
