Pre-Season Poll Ranks Cougars/Thorn Receives Another AA Honor

Provo, UT -- The Women's Basketball News Service ranks BYU's women's basketball team as No. 23 in its 2002-2003 Pre-Season College Top 25 poll.

All-American senior guard Erin Thorn, who led the Cougars to the school's first NCAA Sweet 16 last year, was named Second-Team preseason All-America by the news service.

Last year, BYU finished the season with a No. 17 national ranking in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll.

BYU is one of two Mountain West Conference teams to make the pre-season poll. The Rams of Colorado State are ranked 15th by the news service.

Along with CSU, there are three other Cougar opponents on the WBNS top-25 list. They include George Washington (No. 18), UC Santa Barbara (No. 22) and the University of Oregon (No. 25). The Cougar team plays all three of the ranked opponents on the road in December prior to the start of MWC play. League play begins on Jan. 16 at the Marriott Center as BYU host CSU.

The Cougars open the 2002-03 season on Nov. 22 hosting the University of Texas.