USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll Tabs Lady Frogs With No. 31 Preseason Ranking

USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll Tabs Lady Frogs With No. 31 Preseason Ranking
TCU returns 10 letterwinners, including four starters, this season

	Ashley Davis is one of the team's top returning players

Nov. 1, 2006

FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU women's basketball team is ranked No. 31 in the USA Today/ESPN Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll that was released on Wednesday morning. Unofficial Internet polls and various magazines in the preseason had the Lady Frogs projected anywhere from No. 21 to No. 31.

TCU returns 10 letterwinners, including four starters, this season and hosts an exhibition home opener against Lake Truck (WNBA) on Sunday (Nov. 5) at 2pm. Twelve days later the Lady Frogs open the regular season and the 2006 BTI Classic at defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Maryland. The following day (Nov. 18), TCU faces No. 27 George Washington at the tournament.

"(When it comes to scheduling) it's real simple," TCU head coach Jeff Mittie said. "I believe in scheduling to put our team in position to play in March. I don't want the NCAA selection committee to say to us that our non-conference schedule is not challenging enough. We are giving our team opportunities and what we do with those opportunities is up to us because we've got it in our hands."

The Lady Frogs are led by preseason All-MWC and preseason All-American candidate Adrianne Ross. The junior guard from Hobbs, New Mexico, is the team's top returning scorer; she also led the league in steals last season.

The Mountain West Conference named its 2006-07 preseason women's basketball poll late last week at its Basketball Media Day held at the Aladdin Hotel. The TCU Lady Frogs were selected third by a narrow margin, followed by New Mexico and BYU. Both the Lobos and Cougars showed up in the Top 25 poll (New Mexico at No. 20, BYU at No. 24).

The Lady Frogs will have a different look at the first of the season considering one of the team's leaders and prospected standouts, senior Hanna Biernacka, cannot play until grades are posted at the end of the semester (NCAA transfer rules). She will likely make her debut against Georgia in mid-December. In addition, junior guard JimAnne Hejny is likely out for the semester with an injury. Until then, four newcomers and eight returners will look to lead the Lady Frogs.

To view the entire poll, click here.