IRVING, Texas -- Jennie Simms was named to the Conference USA Preseason All-Conference Team and the Old Dominion women's basketball team was selected to finish third in the league in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, the conference office announced on Wednesday.
[Read the full Conference Preview]
With two first-place votes, the Lady Monarchs finished third behind WKU and tournament champion Middle Tennessee, respectively. Rounding out the top five were Charlotte and last year's regular season champ UTEP.
WKU (6), Middle Tennessee (5), ODU (2) and UTSA (1), who finished 11th in the poll, were the only teams to receive first-place votes.
Old Dominion returns all but one player from last year's squad, including Simms, who is the only ODU representative on the eight-player preseason all-conference team. The senior guard repeated as an All-C-USA selection last year after leading the conference in scoring with a 21.4 average.
Simms, who needs 305 points to move into the top 10 all-time in scoring in ODU history, is the seventh-highest returning scorer in the country.
The Lady Monarchs open their season on Nov. 18 against Norfolk State at The Ted. For information on season tickets, click here.
2016-17 C-USA PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Lefty Webster | Charlotte
Ty Petty | Middle Tennessee
Alex Johnson | Middle Tennessee
Jennie Simms | Old Dominion
Jenzel Nash | UTEP
Sparkle Taylor | UTEP
Tashia Brown | WKU
Kendall Noble | WKU (Preseason Player of the Year)
2016-17 C-USA PRESEASON POLL (# first-place votes)
1. WKU (6)
2. Middle Tennessee (5)
3. Old Dominion (2)
4. Charlotte
5. UTEP
6. North Texas
7. Rice
8. Southern Miss
9. UAB
10. Marshall
11. UTSA (1)
12. Louisiana Tech
13. Florida Atlantic
14. FIU