Oct. 19, 2004
WACO, Texas - The Baylor Lady Bear basketball team received its fifth top 10 ranking when Street & Smith's magazine listed the team No. 10 in its annual preseason poll. In addition, Sophia Young and Steffanie Blackmon were named preseason All-Americans by the publication.
The additional top 10 listing brings the 2004-05 Lady Bears' preseason total to five. Baylor is listed No. 3 in SLAM, No. 8 in both Sports Illustrated and Lindy's and No. 10 in Athlon's and Street & Smith's. Four 2004-05 Baylor opponents are ranked among Street & Smith's top 25. LSU, Baylor's first opponent of the season, checks in at No. 2, fellow Big 12 members Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma are listed at Nos. 3, 9 and 23, respectively, and Penn State is No. 20.
Sophia Young is one of three Big 12 players listed on the publication's Terrific 10. The talented junior forward is joined on the elite squad by Texas' Tiffany Jackson and Kendra Wecker of Kansas State. Young also earned preseason All-American honors from Lindy's and Athlon's magazines and is on the Wade Trophy Watch List. In her two seasons at Baylor, Young has averaged 15.5 points and 9.3 rebound and has scored 1,083 points and hauled down 653 boards.
Blackmon was one of 10 players to receive high honorable mention honors. In addition, 30 players were named to the honorable mention squad. Blackmon, a senior post, is also listed on the watch lists for the Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy. She was named to the Women's Wooden Award Preseason All-American team as well. Blackmon averages 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds for her Baylor career and has amassed 1,402 points and 651 rebounds in her three seasons.
Street & Smith's Preseason Top 25
1. Tennessee
2. LSU
3. Texas
4. Georgia
5. Connecticut
6. Duke
7. Stanford
8. Rutgers
9. Texas Tech
10. Baylor
11. Notre Dame
12. Michigan State
13. North Carolina
14. Purdue
15. Boston College
16. Chattanooga
17. Minnesota
18. Vanderbilt
19. Ohio State
20. Penn State
21. Villanova
22. UNLV
23. Oklahoma
24. Utah
25. UCLA
Street & Smith's Preseason All-America Team
Terrific 10
Seimone Augustus, LSU
Jacqueline Batteast, Notre Dame
Monique Currie, Duke
Sandora Irvin, TCU
Tiffany Jackson, Texas
Janel McCarville, Minnesota
Kim Smith, Utah
Kendra Wecker, Kansas State
Tanisha Wright, Penn State
Sophia Young, Baylor
High Honorable Mention
Steffanie Blackmon, Baylor
Katasha Brown, Chattanooga
Shyra Ely, Tennessee
Temeka Johnson, LSU
Camille Little, North Carolina
Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers
Armintie Price, Ole Miss
Noelle Quinn., UCLA
Barbara Turner, Connecticut
Tan White Mississippi State
