DALLAS - Middle Tennessee has been voted by the league's nine head coaches as the preseason favorite to win the 2023-24 Conference USA women's basketball regular season championship. The league announced Thursday, MTSU's
Savannah Wheeler was the named the Preseason Player of the Year and headlines the conference's 11 Preseason All-Conference honorees.
Middle Tennessee tallied all nine first-place votes and finished with a total of 81 points. Rick Insell heads into his 19
th season as the winningest head coach in Lady Raiders program history and returns four starters from last year’s squad that finished with a 28-5 record and a CUSA regular season and tournament title. Senior
Savannah Wheeler, a three-time All-Conference USA honoree, transfers to Middle Tennessee after leading the Lady Raiders with 15.1 points per game. Wheeler lands herself on the Preseason All-Conference Team along with senior forward
Courtney Whitson and junior guard
Jalynn Gregory. Whitson, a 2022-23 First Team All-Conference honoree, returns after averaging 10.1 points and 7.8 rebounds last season, while reigning CUSA Tournament MVP, Gregory, averaged 13.4 points and led CUSA in three-pointers with 85 on the year.
Liberty and WKU take the runner-up position with 59 points each as they both finished second in their conference tournaments a year ago.
Emma Hess was the lone Flame named to the Preseason All-Conference Team as she averaged 8.5 points per game and a .375 clip from three. WKU’s
Acacia Hayes and
Alexis Mead look to build off a successful campaign from last season. Hayes finished the year as the leading scorer for the Hilltoppers averaging 11.2 points while Mead averaged 8.2 and 3.3 assists per game.
Senior
Anna Larr Roberson will lead the Lady Techsters as they finished fourth in preseason voting. Roberson, who earned Second Team All-Conference USA honors a season ago, finished with 12.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game with a .498 field goal percentage.
Rounding out the preseason team are FIU’s
Tanajah Hayes and
Kaliah Henderson, New Mexico State’s
Molly Kaiser and UTEP’s
Jane Asinde. Hayes (10.2 ppg) and Henderson (15.7 ppg) were the top scorers for the Panthers in the 2022-23 campaign as Hayes also averaged 2.3 steals per game (second in CUSA) and Henderson led the squad in rebounding (4.6). Kaiser, who started all 35 contests for the Aggies last season, averaged 13.0 points per game with a .416 shooting clip. Asinde joins UTEP after spending two years at Wichita State under Keitha Adams and was named a Third Team All-Conference member in 2022-23 and averaged a team-high 13.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game last season.
The 2023-24 campaign is set to tip off Monday, November 6, and will conclude at the 2024 Conference USA Basketball Championships March 12-16 at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala. The women’s Championship title game is scheduled for Saturday, March 16, at 4:30 p.m. CT and will be aired on
CBS Sports Network.
2023-24 CUSA Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Rank |
School (first-place votes) |
Total |
| 1. |
MTSU (9) |
81 |
| T2. |
Liberty |
59 |
| T2. |
WKU |
59 |
| 4. |
LA Tech |
56 |
| 5. |
UTEP |
53 |
| 6. |
NM State |
32 |
| 7. |
FIU |
28 |
| 8. |
Jacksonville State |
24 |
| 9. |
Sam Houston |
13 |
CUSA WBB Preseason Player of the Year
Savannah Wheeler, MTSU
CUSA WBB Preseason All-Conference Honorees
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
| Tanajah Hayes, FIU |
Jr. |
G |
Charlotte, N.C. |
| Kaliah Henderson, FIU |
Gr. |
G |
Tampa, Fla. |
| Emma Hess, Liberty |
Jr. |
G |
Beavercreek, Ohio |
| Anna Larr Roberson, LA Tech |
Sr. |
F |
Ruston, La. |
| Jalynn Gregory, MTSU |
Jr. |
G |
Lafayette, Tenn. |
| Savannah Wheeler, MTSU |
Sr. |
G |
Catlettsburg, Ky. |
| Courtney Whitson, MTSU |
Sr. |
F |
Kingsport, Tenn. |
| Molly Kaiser, NM State |
Sr. |
G |
Watauga, Texas |
| Jane Asinde, UTEP |
Sr. |
F |
Kampala, Uganda |
| Acacia Hayes, WKU |
So. |
G |
Murfreesboro, Tenn. |
| Alexis Mead, WKU |
Jr. |
G |
Moreno Valley, Calif. |