LAS VEGAS – One year removed from setting the West Coast Conference wins record with a 17-1 mark, Gonzaga has been selected as the favorite to repeat as the 2019 WCC champions in the annual preseason poll of the WCC’s 10 head coaches. The Bulldogs claimed seven of 10 first place votes while also placing a league-high three student-athletes on the Preseason All-WCC team.
 
Gonzaga (27-6, 17-1) claimed 79 points to finish atop the preseason poll after taking the double in both 2017 and 2018 with the WCC regular season and championship crowns both years.
 
Saint Mary’s (20-11, 13-5) received two first place votes and was the preseason pick to finish second in the conference with 73 points. The Gaels were followed by BYU (16-4, 11-7) in third with 66 points and the final first-place vote.
 
Loyola Marymount (19-11, 11-7) and San Diego (17-15, 8-10) were picked fourth and fifth with 52 and 49 points, respectively. The Toreros advanced to the WCC Championship game last season in a strong run in Las Vegas as the sixth-seed.
 
Four points separated the sixth, seventh and eighth spots on the poll between Santa Clara, Pacific and San Francisco. The Broncos (9-21, 5-13) were selected sixth with 35 points with the Tigers (15-17, 7-11) finishing one point ahead of the Dons (16-15, 10-8) with a 32-to-31 point edge.
 
Pepperdine and Portland round out the preseason poll with the Waves collecting 24 points for ninth followed by the Pilots. Pepperdine (10-20, 5-13) earned their most points in the preseason poll since the 2012-13 season while Portland (7-23, 3-15) improved its number of overall wins for the third-consecutive season last year.
 
Six programs placed at least one student-athlete on the preseason All-West Coast Conference Team with Gonzaga’s trio of Zykera Rice, Chandler Smith and Laura Stockton leading the way. BYU and Saint Mary’s both added two representatives in Brenna Chase and Sara Hamson for the Cougars and Megan McKay and Sydney Raggio for the Gaels. Also earning Preseason All-Conference honors are Gabby Green of Loyola Marymount, Myah Pace of San Diego and Yasmine Robinson-Bacote of Pepperdine.
 
The preseason poll and All-WCC team were selected solely by a vote of the conference's 10 head coaches.
 
West Coast Conference play begins on Saturday, December 29. For the most up-to-date schedule with game times and broadcast listings, visit WCCsports.com and follow @WCChoops and @TheWtv on Twitter. 
  
2018-19 WEST COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
Team (First Place Votes)         Points
1. Gonzaga (7)                          79
2. Saint Mary’s (2)                     73
3. BYU (1)                                66
4. Loyola Marymount                 52
5. San Diego                             49
6. Santa Clara                           35
7. Pacific                                  32
8. San Francisco                       31
9. Pepperdine                           24
10. Portland                              9
 
2018-19 ALL-WCC PRESEASON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
Name                                  Institution                 Yr.       Pos.
Brenna Chase                      BYU                           Jr.        G
Gabby Green                       Loyola Marymount      Sr.        G
Sara Hamson                       BYU                           Soph.   C
Megan McKay                      Saint Mary’s               Sr.        F
Myah Pace                           San Diego                  Soph.   G
Sydney Raggio                     Saint Mary’s               Sr.        F
Zykera Rice                          Gonzaga                    Sr.        F
Yasmine Robinson-Bacote    Pepperdine                Sr.        F
Chandler Smith                    Gonzaga                    Sr.        G
Laura Stockton                     Gonzaga                    Sr.        G