Big 12 Announces Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll, Awards

SALT LAKE CITY – The preseason Big 12 women’s basketball awards and poll for the 2024-25 season has been announced. The 16-team era of the league begins soon and there is strong representation throughout the league. League coaches voted on the awards and poll and were not allowed to vote for their own team.

Locally, Lynne Roberts’ Utah squad was voted to finish 6th in the league. The Runnin’ Utes finished the 2023-24 season with a 23-11 record and went 11-7 in Pac-12 action.

Amber Whiting and her BYU program are projected to finish  12th this season. The Cougars finished last season 16-17 overall and 6-12 in Big 12 play. 

2024-25 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll

Here is how the Big 12 preseason poll finished. There were only 16 first-place votes and Kansas State received seven of them, while Iowa State earned six. Those two programs lead the way for the Big 12 this season. Both the Wildcats and Cyclones advanced to the round of 32 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The stage is set… the countdown to #Big12WBB tipoff continues ⏳ pic.twitter.com/MlSEKQbpG1

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 3, 2024

Baylor was picked to finish third in the Big 12 and received two first-place votes while TCU came in fourth. West Virginia is slotted fifth despite receiving one first-place vote.

Utah, who made a run to the Round of 32 last season, are picked to finish sixth with Arizona picked to finish seventh.  Kansas and Colorado come in at the eighth and ninth spots, respectively, with Texas Tech rounding out the top 10.

Here is the full preseason poll:

1. K-State (7), 211 points
2. Iowa State (6), 209 points
3. Baylor (2), 194 points
4. TCU, 185 points
5. West Virginia (1), 184 points
6. Utah, 149 points
7. Arizona, 136 points
8. Kansas, 128 points
9. Colorado, 113 points
10. Texas Tech, 84 points
11. Oklahoma State, 80 points
12. BYU, 59 points
13. Cincinnati, 56 points
14. UCF, 54 points
15. Arizona State, 51 points
16. Houston, 27 points

Preseason Awards and All-Big-12 Selections

Only Utah had a player represented on the preseason all-conference squad. That was forward Gianna Kneepkens earned a spot on the Preseason All-Big 12 team and the Utes were picked to finish sixth in the league.

Kneepkens earned All-American status in 2022-23. Afters suffering a season-ending injury last year, she is set to return for the 2024-25 season.

Prior to her injury, Kneepkens was averaging 17.8 points per game while shooting 63.3 percent from the field and 54.0 percent from beyond the arc. She also added 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Certified bucket 🪣🏀#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/dfTtIjvgas

— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) October 3, 2024

Player of the Year

• Ayoka Lee, K-State

Newcomers of the Year

• Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor
• Hailey Van Lith, TCU

Freshman of the Year

• Tabitha Betson, Colorado

Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Big 12 Team

• Sarah Andrews, Baylor
• Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor
• Kaitlin Peterson, UCF
• Audi Crooks, Iowa State
• S’Mya Nichols, Kansas
• Ayoka Lee, K-State
• Serena Sundell, K-State
• Hailey Van Lith, TCU
• Gianna Kneepkens, Utah
• JJ Quinerly, West Virginia

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

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