SAN MATEO, Calif. – After winning the 2022 University Credit Union WCC Basketball Tournament, Gonzaga stands atop the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll in the annual poll of the WCC’s 10 head coaches. The Bulldogs collected all nine first-place votes possible along with 81 points.
 
The Bulldogs' head coach Lisa Fortier brings back multiple key returners from last year's conference tournament champion squad, including the Truong sisters, Kayleigh and Kaylynne, both preseson team honorees, as well as fellow preseason team honoree and the 2022 WCC Sixth Woman of the Year Award winner Yvonne Ejim. Last season, the Bulldogs advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual Final Four participant Louisville. 

Portland picked up the other first-place vote, along with 71 points, to take second in the preseason coaches poll. Similar to Gonzaga, the Pilots also feature many key returners, including former WCC Outstanding Player of the Year Alex Fowler, All-WCC Second Team selection Haylee Andrews and Lucy Cochrane, a transfer from Oregon who was one of the nation's best in blocks last season. 
 
2022 WCC Regular Season Champion BYU came in third in the poll with 55 points. First-year head coach Amber Whiting has All-American and All-WCC First Team honoree Lauren Gustin back this season after she paced the league with an average of 11.5 rebounds per game last season. 

Armed with the 2022 WCC scoring champion, San Francisco came in fourth in the preseason poll with 54 points, just one point shy of third place. Ioanna Krimili will lead the Dons after averaging a league-best 19.6 points per game last season. The Dons earned a bid into the WNIT and will look to Krimili and key returners Kennedy Dickie, Jasmine Gayles and Jessica McDowell-White to get USF back in the postseason. 

The fifth-place team in the preseason poll was a postseason tournament champion last season. Saint Mary's garnered 47 points for fifth place after winning the Women's Basketball Inviational last season. 2022 WCC Newcomer of the Year Ali Bamberger is back, and she was named to the All-WCC Preseason Team after earning first team all-league honors last season. 

One of the WCC's toughest defensive teams, and one of the nation's best in creating turnovers, San Diego came in sixth in the coaches poll with 46 points, one shy of fifth. After getting injured early last season, Myah Pace returns to lead the Toreros. She was also named to the preseason team. 

Five of the preseason team honorees were named to the All-WCC First Team last season - Bamberger, Fowler, Gustin, Krimili and Kayleigh Truong. The preseason team also features three All-WCC Second Team student-athletes - Andrews, Ejim and LMU's Ariel Johnson. The preseason team also features five players who were named to last year's preseason team - Andrews, Fowler, Gustin, Krimili and Pace. Andrews, Fowler and Pace got the nod for the third straight time. 

2022-23 WCC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll