NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 18, 2012) –  Rutgers women’s basketball was selected to finish fifth in the 2012-13 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll it was announced by the conference office at its annual media day held this year at the New York Athletic Club.

After tying for sixth place with a 10-6 league mark last year and posting a 22-10 overall record last season, the Scarlet Knights were chosen to improve one spot in 2012-13. Rutgers earned its 10th-straight NCAA Championship bid last season and a No. 6 seed.  Head coach C. Vivian Stringer, in her 18^th season “on the banks” and 42^nd season overall, returns eight letterwinners and welcomes a five-member recruiting class ranked third in the nation.

Senior Monique Oliver (Las Vegas, Nev.) earned a spot on the preseason team after being an All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention selection last season.  Oliver, the Scarlet Knights returning leading scorer, averaged 11.8 points and 7.3 rebounds was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times during last year’s campaign. She currently ranks sixth in the Rutgers record books with 144 career blocked shots and sixth with a .557 field goal percentage.

Connecticut, the 2012 BIG EAST Championship tournament winner, was picked to win the regular-season title. The Huskies, who received 12 first-place votes, edged last year’s regular-season champion, Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish received three first-place votes and were picked to finish second.

Louisville was selected to finish third, with St. John’s picked fourth and Rutgers rounding out the top five. DePaul was slotted sixth, while Syracuse and Georgetown were separated by only one point in seventh and eighth, respectively. The Hoyas were followed by USF, Villanova and Marquette in ninth, 10th and 11th. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and Providence followed the Golden Eagles, with the Panthers and Pirates tied for 13th. 

RU will tip-off the season at Georgia on Sunday, Nov. 11 and host George Washington in its home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

2012-13 Preseason Coaches Poll                                              

First-place votes in parentheses