University of Houston Athletics
Jones Named Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year
10/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 29, 2002
Houston's Chandi Jones, who became the fastest player in C-USA history to reach 1,000 career points last year, has been selected by the coaches as the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year. TCU, which captured the 2002 C-USA regular season title, and Cincinnati, which claimed the C-USA Tournament crown have both been chosen by the 14 C-USA head coaches to win the 2002-03 regular season title, while Tulane was picked to finish third and Houston was picked to finish fourth.
Jones was an All-American last year after ranking fifth in the nation in scoring (22.5 ppg) and leading Houston to the championship game of the WNIT. She became the 13th-fastest in Division I history to score the 1,000th point of her career last season in only her 47th collegiate game. Jones currently ranks 10th all-time in Cougar history with 1,195 points in 54 games, and has reached double figures in points in all 54 games.
Cincinnati returns four of its starters from last year's NCAA squad, including all-preseason pick Valerie King, who led the Bearcats in scoring with 19.8 points per game. King, a 2002 first-team all-conference honoree, became the first player to win back-to-back MVP tourney awards when she led the Bearcats to the 2001 runner-up title and 2002 tourney crown. She also led C-USA in field-goal percentage (.892) and second in three-point field goal percentage (.436).
TCU return four of its top six scorers and four of its top five rebounders from last year's club. Leading the way for the Horned Frogs is preseason all-league forward Sandora Irvin. The 6-4 sophomore averaged 10.8 points and ranked second in the conference in rebounds (9.5 pg) and blocked shots (2.7 pg).
Tulane's Teana McKiver returns for her senior campaign and claims her second preseason all-conference accolade. Last season, she ranked first in the league in field goal percentage (62.3), third in blocks (2.86 bpg) and fifth in scoring (16.4 ppg), helping the Green Wave to their eighth consecutive NCAA appearance.
Louisville's Sara Nord rounds out the preseason all-conference team. The 5-4 junior broke her own C-USA single season record for assists last season with 235. She is now ranked fourth on the C-USA career list with 457 and needs only 87 to break U of L's Jenny Knight's (1997-00) record of 543. Nord finished the 2001-02 season averaging 10.4 points and 6.4 assists per game.
Conference USA enjoyed one of its finest seasons in 2001-02. Cincinnati, Tulane and TCU all advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the first time in league history that C-USA went 3-0 in the first round of the tournament. Houston advanced to the championship game of the WNIT, losing a heartbreaker at Oregon, 54-52. It marked the first time in C-USA's seven-year existence that a conference team advanced to the title game of the WNIT.
2002-2003 PRESEASON AWARDS (as selected by the league's head coaches)
Preseason All-Conference Team
**CHANDI JONES - Houston
Jr., G/F, Bay City, Texas/Bay City
SANDORA IRVIN - TCU
So., F, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Ft. Lauderdale
VALERIE KING - Cincinnati
Jr., G, Washington Court House, Ohio/Washington
TEANA MCKIVER - Tulane
Sr., C, Beulaville, N.C./East Duplin/East Carolina
SARA NORD - Louisville
Jr., G, Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville
** Preseason Player of the Year
2002-2003 PRESEASON POLL
1. Cincinnati
TCU
3. Tulane
4. Houston
5. Louisville
6. Charlotte
7. DePaul
8. Marquette
9. Memphis
10. South Florida
11. Saint Louis
12. UAB
13. Southern Miss
14. East Carolina
