Morgan State senior Corin Adams was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, the conference announced on Thursday. The defending MEAC champion North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies were predicted to the win the 2009-10 crown, as voted on by the conference's head women's basketball coaches and sports information directors.
Adams, a 2008-09 All-MEAC first-team selection, was second in the conference with 18.2 points per game and 4.3 assists per game. She ranked fourth in the nation in steals with 3.5 per game. The guard led the MEAC in three-point field goals made (71) and led her team in assists, finished third in rebounds and tied for second in blocks shots.
Joining Adams on the preseason All-MEAC first-team are North Carolina A&T teammates Ta'Wuana Cook and Jaleesa Sams. Cook, the 2007 MEAC Rookie of the Year, tallied 11.8 points, 2.7 assists per game and hit 68.7-percent from the free-throw line a year ago. Sams is the top returning MEAC player in field goal percentage (53.7). Last season, she ranked among the top ten in the league in rebounding (6.5) and steals (2.2).
Maryland Eastern Shore's April McBride and Bethune-Cookman's Sarah Bolden complete the preseason first-team. McBride was third in the MEAC with 8.6 rebounds and fifth in the league with 1.2 blocks per game. Bolden led the conference with 265 rebounds (9.1 per game). She posted 12 10-plus rebound games and nine double-double performances.
The Lady Aggies, who earned 16 of the possible 22 first-place votes and 458 points, finished the 2008-09 season with a 26-7 overall record and 15-1 mark in MEAC play. They return three starters and eight letterwinners from a team that captured back-to-back regular season titles and earned a 14th seed in the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.
Maryland Eastern Shore tallied 368 points and was picked to finish second. The Lady Hawks welcome back seven returnees from last year's team that advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 MEAC Basketball Tournament.
Coppin State received one first place vote (345 points) for a third place predicted order of finish. Delaware State (320) was tabbed to finish fourth while Morgan State (304) rounded out the preseason top five.
The 2009-10 MEAC women's basketball season tips off on Friday, November 13 with a host of MEAC women's teams in action. The defending MEAC champion North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. against Marist in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
The 2010 MEAC Basketball Tournament is scheduled for March 8-13 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.
For more information about MEAC Basketball, log on to www.meacsports.com.
2009-10 Women's Basketball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
As voted on by the Conference's Head Women's Basketball
Coaches and Sports Information Directors
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
School................................................ Points
1. North Carolina A&T (16).................... 458 pts.
2. Maryland Eastern Shore(2)............... 368 pts.
3. Coppin State (1).............................. 346 pts.
4. Delaware State................................ 320 pts.
5. Morgan State.................................. 304 pts.
6. Hampton (3).................................... 243 pts.
7. Florida A&M.................................... 232 pts.
8. Howard........................................... 154 pts.
9. Bethune-Cookman........................... 130 pts.
10. South Carolina State...................... 88 pts.
11. Norfolk State................................. 42 pts.
2009-10 Women's Basketball Preseason All-MEAC Teams
As voted on by the Conference's Head Women's Basketball
Coaches and Sports Information Directors
First Team
Name School Pos. Ht. Cl. Hometown
Corin Adams Morgan State G 5-7 Sr. Brooklyn, N.Y.
Ta'wuana Cook North Carolina A&T G 5-8 Sr. Fayetteville, N.C.
Jaleesa Sams North Carolina A&T G/F 5-11 Jr. New Castle, Pa.
April McBride Maryland E. Shore F 6-0 Sr. New Rochelle, N.Y.
Sarah Bolden Bethune-Cookman C 6-1 Jr. Slidell, Louisiana
Second Team
Name School Pos. Ht. Cl. Hometown
Zykia Brown Howard G 5-8 Jr. Riverdale, Md.
*Deidra Jones Florida A&M G 5-10 Sr. Powder Springs, Ga.
*Demetria Frank Bethune-Cookman G 5-9 Jr. Miami, Fla.
Antonia Bennett Florida A&M G/F 6-1 So. Lakeland, Fla.
Lamona Smalley North Carolina A&T F 6-0 Sr. Philadelphia, Pa.
*Laura Lewis Hampton C 6-2 Jr. Waxahachie, Texas
*Kristina Rosario Morgan State C 6-2 Sr. Atlantic City, N.J.
[*] indicates a tie
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