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El Segundo, Calif. • BYU's women's basketball team is coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but the Cougars aren't picked to win the West Coast Conference championship this year.
It's Gonzaga. Again.
The Zags got seven first-place votes in the balloting released Monday at the WCC Tipoff media event at the Time Warner Studios near Los Angeles. BYU got two first-place votes and is picked second, followed by San Diego, which got one vote.
"Second is a good place to be in," said BYU senior forward Morgan Bailey, who made the league's preseason team. "With Jennifer [Hamson] gone, I think it is a whole new deal for us, and the [voters] probably realized that."
Pacific, Saint Mary's and San Francisco were picked three through six, followed by Portland, LMU, Pepperdine and Santa Clara.
BYU's Lexi Eaton, a junior, also made the preseason all-conference team. The entire team is comprised of juniors and seniors.
"It means a lot to me to be picked," said Bailey, niece of former Utah Jazz great Thurl Bailey. "It means that I can be a force in this league if I keep working hard. I'm excited about it." —
WCC women's preseason poll
1. Gonzaga (7)
2. BYU (2)
3. San Diego (1)
4. Pacific
5. Saint Mary's
6. San Francisco
7. Portland
8. Loyola Marymount
9. Pepperdine
10. Santa Clara
Note: First place votes in parenthesis
WCC women's preseason team
Morgan Bailey, BYU
Lexi Eaton, BYU
Sunny Greinacher, Gonzaga
Zhane' Dikes, San Francisco
Kendall Kenyon, Pacific
Cassandra Brown, Portland
Deanna Johnson, LMU
Malina Hood, San Diego
Taylor Proctor, San Francisco
Nici Gilday, Santa Clara