NEW YORK - University of Louisville All-American and 2006-07 BIG EAST Player of the Year Angel McCoughtry has been selected as the 2007-08 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by a vote of the league’s 16 head coaches, while the Cards were picked sixth in the Preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll Thursday at the BIG EAST Media Day activities.

McCoughtry, a unanimous selection, headlines an 11-person Preseason All-BIG EAST Team and three Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention members. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players or teams in the preseason polls.

A junior from Baltimore, Md., McCoughtry became the first women’s basketball player in program history to earn Kodak and Associated Press All-America honors. The conference Player of the Year and an All-BIG EAST First Team selection, she was tabbed the league scoring and rebounding champion with averages of 23.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. McCoughtry also added a league-best 58 steals and topped all players with 19 double-doubles. Louisville advanced to the 2007 NCAA Championship Second Round with an overall record of 27-8. During the summer of 2007 the forward led the U.S. Pan American Team in scoring en route to a gold medal.

Overall, the Cards received 154 votes in the preseason poll while the University of Connecticut, the 2006-07 regular season champion, has been

projected to capture the 2007-08 BIG EAST women’s basketball regular season title. In the 26 years of BIG EAST women’s basketball, Connecticut has been crowned regular-season champ 15 times, while winning 13 tournament titles.

Connecticut garnered 15 of 16 first-place votes to total 225 points in the poll. UConn grabbed last season’s regular season title with an untainted record of 16-0 in conference play. The Huskies went undefeated for the sixth time in program history and became the eighth team in the league to accomplish the feat. UConn returns all its letterwinners from a year ago that held a 32-4 overall mark. For the 19th straight year, the Huskies earned an NCAA Championship berth. UConn advanced to the NCAA Championship Fresno Regional Final, marking the 13th time that Connecticut has played in a Regional Final.

UConn will be led by 2007-08 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team members Renee Montgomery and Tina Charles. A junior, Montgomery will lead the point for the Huskies, after averaging 13.3 points per game and dishing out 163 assists. Charles was the 2006-07 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year. The center topped the UConn books with freshman records in blocks (81) and rebounds (296), while averaging 12.7 points per game. For the second straight year, a Connecticut recruit is named BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year.  Maya Moore, who hails from Lawrenceville, Ga., is expected to make a signifigant impact in the Huskies’ lineup this season.

Rutgers (27-9, 12-4) will be defending its 2007 BIG EAST Championship title for the first time in program history. The Scarlet Knights earned one first-place vote and a total of 211 points in the 2007-08 preseason poll. The Scarlet Knights made a storybook run to the 2007 NCAA Championship title game in Cleveland, Ohio. As the No. 4 seed in the national tournament, RU knocked off No. 13 seed East Carolina and No. 5 seed Michigan State, before upsetting No. 1 seed Duke and No. 3 seeds Arizona State and LSU. Rutgers fell to Tennessee 59-46 in the title game on April 3.

Preseason All-BIG EAST Team members Matee Ajavon, Essence Carson and Kia Vaughn will be counted on to guide the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers returns 98.8 percent of its scoring and all five starters from last season. Carson is the two-time defending BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year and the senior is one of four unanimous selections to this year’s preseason team. Ajavon, also a senior, was named to the 2006-07 All-BIG EAST Second Team, and Vaughn was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection in her sophomore year.

Earning its highest ranking in program history in the preseason poll, West Virginia was picked third with 186 points heading into the 2007-08 season. WVU (21-11) is coming off an NCAA Second Round showing, marking its fourth appearance at the national tournament. The Mountaineers ended the 2006-07 season with an 11-5 mark in BIG EAST play and finished fourth in the league standings, earning its first-ever bye to the BIG EAST Championship. For the second consecutive season, West Virginia returns all five starters, including Olayinka Sanni, a unanimous selection to the 2007-08 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Also leading the way for WVU will be All-BIG EAST honorees, seniors Chakhia Cole, LaQuita Owens and Meg Bulger, who sat out the last season and a half with two separate knee injuries.

Pittsburgh was picked fourth in the 2007-08 preseason poll and earned 169 points. Pitt had a landmark season in 2006-07, including the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Championship. The Panthers completed the year with a 24-9 overall record, the most wins in school history, and a 10-6 mark in league play. The Panthers welcome back 93.0 percent of their scoring and 91.5 percent of their starts, having graduated just one player. Senior Marcedes Walker and redshirt-junior Shavonte Zellous return to the Panther lineup. Walker is a unanimous selection to the 2007-08 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, after securing a double-double in league play with averages of 16.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Zellous was named the 2006-07 BIG EAST Most Improved Player as she led the Panthers with 19.1 points per game, and was second on the team with 5.9 rebounds per contest and 21 blocked shots.

The 2008 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Championship Presented by Aéropostale will return to the Hartford Civic Center for the fifth straight year. After crowning a first-time BIG EAST Champion through four days of exciting play in 2007, the 2008 tournament will be held March 8-11. 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.

2007-08 Preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll

1.   Connecticut (15)        225

2.   Rutgers (1)                211

3.   West Virginia                  186

4.   Pittsburgh               169

5.   Notre Dame               165

6.   Louisville                154

7.   DePaul                   152

8.   Marquette                      124

9.   USF                       105

10.  Seton Hall               93

11.  St. John’s               83

12.  Villanova                 77

13.  Syracuse                 61

14.  Cincinnati                49

15.  Providence                     36

16.  Georgetown                   20

2007-08 Preseason Player of the Year Angel McCoughtry, Louisville, Jr.,

F

2007-08 Preseason Freshman of the Year *Maya Moore, Fr., F, Connecticut (Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill)

2007-08 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team Matee Ajavon, Rutgers, Sr., G

Charel Allen, Notre Dame, Sr., G *Essence Carson, Rutgers, Sr., F/G Tina

Charles, Connecticut, So., C Krystal Ellis, Marquette, Jr., G *Angel

McCoughtry, Louisville, Jr., F Renee Montgomery, Connecticut, Jr., G

*Olayinka Sanni, West Virginia, Sr., C Kia Vaughn, Rutgers, Jr., C

*Marcedes Walker, Pittsburgh, Sr., C Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh,

RS-Jr., G

* - unanimous selection

2007-08 Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention Team Allie Quigley, DePaul, Sr., G Charde Houston, Connecticut, Sr., F Kia Wright, St.

John’s, Sr., G