The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thomas Tabbed Preseason All-SEC
10/20/2009 | Women's Basketball
Thomas put together a breakout season last year and turned herself into one of the league's top players. She finished the season ranked fourth in the conference in scoring with 15.8 points per game and produced nine games of 20 points or more, including a career-high 31 points in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Thomas returns for the 2009-10 season as the SEC's leading scorer.
She also proved to be one of the top sharp-shooters in the conference and ended the season sixth in the SEC with a .353 shooting percentage from three-point range. In fact, Thomas set a new school record for the most treys in a season with 73 and tied the single game record with the seven three-pointers she hit against Mississippi State.
LSU's Allison Hightower was the overwhelming choice of the media for SEC Women's Basketball Player of the Year with 18 votes, and the remaining votes were for LSU's LaSondra Barrett and Tennessee's Angie Bjorklund.
Joining Hightower on the All-SEC first team were Georgia's Ashley Houts and Angel Robinson, Mississippi State's Alexis Rack and Tennessee's Shekinna Stricklen. The second team consists of Arkansas' C'eira Ricketts, Barrett, Bjorklund, Vanderbilt's Merideth Marsh and Thomas.
LSU was predicted to win the 2010 SEC women's basketball championship. The Lady Tigers return four starters and nine letterwinners from a squad that reached the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2009. They earned 12 first-place votes, topping Tennessee which earned six votes and Georgia and Vanderbilt who earned one vote each.
LSU tops the order of finish with 2006 points, with Tennessee (190), Georgia (156), Vanderbilt (126), Mississippi State (120) and Florida (105) rounding out the top half of the league. Arkansas comes in at seven with 92 votes. Auburn (85), Ole Miss (70), South Carolina (61), Kentucky (40) and Alabama (24) round out the bottom half of the conference.
The Rebels return four starters and 12 letterwinners from a squad that posted an 18-15 overall record and earned a berth in the postseason for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Ole Miss returns 81.3 percent of its scoring and 85.3 percent of its rebounding from a year ago and features one of the most experienced teams in the SEC, which includes six seniors and two juniors.
Ole Miss opens the season Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. when the Rebels host Christian Brothers in an exhibition contest from Tad Smith Coliseum.
SEC Women's Basketball Preseason Media Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
SEC Champion: LSU (12), Tennessee (6), Georgia (1), Vanderbilt (1)
Order of Finish
1. LSU (206)
2. Tennessee (190)
3. Georgia (156)
4. Vanderbilt (126)
5. Mississippi State (120)
6. Florida (105)
7. Arkansas (92)
8. Auburn (85)
9. Ole Miss (70)
10. South Carolina (61)
11. Kentucky (40)
12. Alabama (24)
First Team All-SEC
Ashely Houts, Georgia
Angel Robinson, Georgia
Allison Hightower, LSU
Alexis Rack, Mississippi State
Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee
Second Team All-SEC
C'eira Ricketts, Arkansas
LaSondra Barrett, LSU
Bianca Thomas, Ole Miss
Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee
Merideth Marsh, Vanderbilt
SEC Player of the Year
Allison Hightower, LSU
