USU Women's Basketball Picked Ninth in Mountain West Preseason Poll

Utah State [University] women's basketball has been picked ninth in the Mountain West Women's Basketball Preseason Poll as voted on by a panel of the league's 11 head coaches and media representatives. The poll results were announced Wednesday morning [Oct. 28, 2015] by the conference.

Colorado State, the 2014-15 regular-season champion, was picked to finish first in the conference with 237 points, including 12 first-place votes. New Mexico was tabbed second with 221 total points and seven first-place votes, while last season's tournament champion, Boise State, came in third with 215 points, including six first-place votes. Fresno State was selected fourth with 182 points, followed by UNLV (138 points) and San Diego State (135 points). Wyoming was slated seventh (125), with San José State coming in eighth (93). The Aggies hold the ninth-place spot with 79 points, one point ahead of Nevada in ninth with 78. Air Force rounds out the 11-team poll with 26 points.

Utah State sophomore guard Funda Nakkasoglu, the defending MW Freshman of the Year, was selected to the Preseason All-Mountain West Team. Nakkasoglu is the first Utah State player to receive the preseason nod since the Aggies joined the Mountain West. She is the first to be named to the preseason all-conference list since Devyn Christensen was named to the Preseason All-Western Athletic Conference First-Team prior to the 2012-13 season.

Joining Nakkasoglu on the preseason team is Boise State junior guard Brooke Pahukoa, Colorado State junior guard Ellen Nystrom, New Mexico senior forward Khadijah Shumpert and Wyoming senior guard Marquell Dent.

Dent was also named the Preseason Player of the Year, the third-straight season a Wyoming player has received the honor. New Mexico freshman guard Jannon Otto was named Preseason Freshman of the Year, while Nevada's Stephanie Schmid and San José State's Dezz Ramos shared the Newcomer of the Year accolade.

Utah State practices from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. each day in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. All practices are open to the public. The Aggies open the season on Saturday, Oct. 31 in an exhibition game against South Dakota School of Mines at 2 p.m. The 2015-16 season will officially begin on Saturday, Nov. 14, when USU hosts Sacramento State at 2 p.m.

A USU women's sports pass is available for $75, giving the owner entry to all home volleyball, women's basketball and gymnastics events. The pass, as well as individual game tickets, are available through the USU Athletics Ticket Office. Fans can find more information by calling (435) 797-0305 or at 1-888-U-STATE-1 (1-888-878-2831) or by visiting the Utah State Athletics website at www.utahstateaggies.com.

Fans can follow USU women's basketball on Twitter, on Instagram, as well as on Facebook. Aggie fans can also follow Utah State Athletics on Twitter, on Instagram and on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

2014-15 Mountain West Preseason Poll

Preseason All-Mountain West Team

Brooke Pahukoa, Jr., G, Boise State

Ellen Nystrom, Jr., G, Colorado State

Khadijah Shumpert, Sr., F, New Mexico

Funda Nakkasoglu, So., G, Utah State

Marquelle Dent, Sr., G, Wyoming

Preseason Player of the Year

Marquelle Dent, Sr., G, Wyoming

Preseason Co-Newcomers of the Year

Stephanie Schmid, Jr., G, Nevada

Dezz Ramos, Jr., PG, San José State

Preseason Freshman of the Year

Jannon Otto, Fr., G, New Mexico

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics website.