NICEVILLE, FLA — With the inaugural Emerald Coast Classic women’s basketball tournament less than a month away, two participating teams – Alabama and Creighton – are garnering national attention.
Crieghton will open the 2024-25 season ranked No. 20 in the Preseason USA Today/Coaches Poll. Earlier this month Creighton was slotted No. 21 in the Associated Press (AP) Preseason Top-25.
Alabama landed at No. 24 on the Preseason Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
Syracuse received one vote in the first Associated Press Top-25 Poll of the season. The Orange, who finished 24-8 overall and 13-5 in the ACC last season, Alabama concluded the 2023-24 season earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four years, as the team finished 23-9 in the regular season and 10-6 in the SEC Conference.
Creighton finished the 2023-24 season with a 26-6 record, advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 6 UCLA , 67-63.The Bluejays ended the 2023-24 season ranked No. 24 as the NCAA Tournament began. Crieghton was ranked in each of the final 16 weeks of the 2023-24 AP Poll and appeared in 18 of the 20 polls last season.
Creighton senior Lauren Jensen and Alabama guard Sarah Ashlee Barker have been named to the 2024-25 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Monday.
Jensen paced Creighton with a 17.4 scoring average (558 points), to go with 98 assists and 27 steals. She earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors each of the last two seasons and has surpassed the 1,000 career point mark at Creighton in less than three years. Last season she played a team-high 1,114 minutes, going 208-of-469 (44.3%) from the field with a team best 74 three-pointers (74-of-202). She also led the team in free-throw percentage at 90.7, hitting 68-of-75.
Jensen is the first Bluejay to be recognized with a spot on the Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
Barker, who is entering her graduate season with the Crimson Tide, was named Preseason First Team All-SEC List in both the Coaches and Media polls). Barker led the Crimson Tide in scoring last season, averaging 16.6 points on her way to earning First Team All-SEC accolades. She scored a career-high 34 points in the Crimson Tide’s win over Kentucky on Jan. 28, earning double-doubles in back-to-back games (34 points, 10 rebounds vs. Kentucky; 24 points, 11 rebounds at Arkansas). She enters this season with 1,132 career points.
