DALLAS – Middle Tennessee was voted the preseason favorite to win the 2024-25 Conference USA women's basketball regular season championship, as voted on by the league's 10 head coaches. FIU's
Mya Kone was named the Preseason Player of the Year and headlined the conference's 10 Preseason All-Conference honorees, announced Thursday by the league.
Middle Tennessee tallied nine first-place votes and finished with a total of 99 points.
Rick Insell heads into his 20
th season as the winningest head coach in Lady Raiders program history. Insell led MTSU to a historic season with a 30-5 (16-0 CUSA) record and a second consecutive CUSA regular season and tournament title. The program also earned its first NCAA Tournament win since 2007 defeating Louisville 71-69.
Liberty (18-16, 11-5 CUSA), the 2024 CUSA Basketball Championship runner-up, was picked to finish second in the league. FIU (21-12, 11-5 CUSA) rounded out the top three coming off a successful 2023-24 season with the Panthers earning the most wins since 2011-12 with 21.
All 10 preseason all-conference honorees earned All-CUSA recognition last season, including Kone, who earned 2023-24 Sixth Player of the Year after averaging 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. She led FIU in double-doubles with nine on the season, scoring a total of 376 and grabbing 267 rebounds. Kone is joined by teammate,
Tanajah Hayes, a 2023-24 Second Team All-Conference honoree. Hayes returns after leading the league in steals with 2.21 per game, while averaging 10.79 points per game.
Liberty and MTSU had the most players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team with three each.
Bella Smuda,
Emma Hess and
Asia Boone represent the Lady Flames as Smuda, a 2023-24 CUSA First Team All-Conference member led the team in scoring (15.0) and rebounding (10.0). Hess led Liberty with 76 three-pointers with a .390 clip, while Boone averaged 10.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
MTSU boasts
Anastasiia Boldyreva,
Jalynn Gregory and
Ta’Mia Scott on the preseason team. Boldyreva earned 2023-24 CUSA Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. Gregory averaged 12.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting a league-best 90.9 percent from the charity stripe. Scott averaged 12.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 44.2 percent from the field.
Rounding out the preseason team are New Mexico State’s
Molly Kaiser and WKU’s
Alexis Mead. Kaiser, a First-Team All-Conference honoree, led the Aggies in scoring with 463 total points and 14.9 points per game, while Mead led the Hilltoppers during conference play with 12.3 points per game and was second in CUSA with 2.1 steals per game.
The 2024-25 campaign is set to tip off Monday, November 4, and will conclude at the 2025 Conference USA Basketball Championships March 11-15 at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala. The women’s Championship title game is scheduled for Saturday, March 15 and will be aired on
CBS Sports Network.
2024-25 CUSA Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
| Rank |
School (first-place votes) |
Total |
| 1. |
MTSU (9) |
99 |
| 2. |
Liberty (1) |
88 |
| 3. |
FIU |
73 |
| 4. |
WKU |
61 |
| 5. |
Louisiana Tech |
59 |
| 6. |
NM State |
55 |
| 7. |
UTEP |
43 |
| 8. |
Jacksonville State |
32 |
| 9. |
Kennesaw State |
22 |
| 10. |
Sam Houston |
18 |
CUSA Preseason Player of the Year
Mya Kone, FIU
2024-25 CUSA Women’s Basketball Preseason Team
| Pos. |
Name, School |
Year |
Hometown |
| G |
Tanajah Hayes, FIU |
Sr. |
Charlotte, N.C. |
| F |
Mya Kone, FIU |
Jr. |
Pompano Beach, Fla. |
| G |
Asia Boone, Liberty |
So. |
San Diego, Calif. |
| G |
Emma Hess, Liberty |
Sr. |
Beavercreek, Ohio |
| C |
Bella Smuda, Liberty |
R-Sr. |
Exton, Pa. |
| C |
Anastasiia Boldyreva, MTSU |
Sr. |
Moscow, Russia |
| G |
Jalynn Gregory, MTSU |
Sr. |
Lafayette, Tenn. |
| G |
Ta’Mia Scott, MTSU |
Jr. |
Clarksville, Tenn. |
| G |
Molly Kaiser, NM State |
Fifth |
Watauga, Texas |
| G |
Alexis Mead, WKU |
Sr. |
Moreno Valley, Calif. |