JULIE GOODENOUGH INTERVIEW | KELSEY SMITH INTERVIEW
ABILENE – ACU junior and all-America guard
Mackenzie Lankford Thursday was announced as the Lone Star Conference's Preseason Player of the Year as part of its online basketball media day.
A native of Weatherford, Texas, Lankford was the top choice on 14 of 31 ballots. Tarleton State's Kiara Wright and Peyton Adamson received four nods each, while four others collected the remaining votes.
Lankford led the league and finished fifth in NCAA Division II scoring last year with 21.5 points per game en route to being named to the Daktronics all-America D-II third team and all-conference first team. She also was named to the league's all-academic team.
As the first ACU guard to be voted all-America since Anita Vigil made honorable mention in 1990-91, Lankford also finished the year ranked among the national leaders with 2.48 steals per game and led the Wildcats in assists (3.1). Lankford scored 30 points or more four times in 2011-12, including a career high 38-point effort against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Feb. 19.
Despite bringing Lankford back in addition to several experienced letter winners from last season's squad, coach
Julie Goodenough's Wildcats placed seventh in the LSC preseason poll with 170 points and one first-place vote.
Tarleton State, with 20 first-place votes, is the top choice to defend its conference crown followed by West Texas A&M, Midwestern State and Angelo State, all of which received a least one first-place vote.
The league's preseason poll and player of the year selection reflect the opinions of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives throughout the region.
The LSC has 10 men's and 11 women's teams set to play this season, and the league competition should be as tight as ever. Each team is playing a double round-robin conference schedule with 18 conference games for the men's teams and 20 on the women's side.
This year's LSC Basketball Championship will be held March 6-9 at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas, for the second straight year. The $52.6 million state-of-the-art facility, which opened in November 2009, is city owned with approximately 8,000 seats in the basketball configuration plus 24 luxury suites.
ACU's 2012-13 season begins November 10 at home vs. Texas A&M-International. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Season preview videos from all 21 conference head basketball coaches are available to watch on the
league's website and
YouTube channel.
Information from LoneStarConference.org was used in this release.
|
2012-13 LSC Preseason Women's Basketball Poll |
|
Rank |
Team |
First-Place Votes |
Points |
|
1 |
Tarleton State |
20 |
323 |
|
2 |
West Texas A&M |
7 |
303 |
|
3 |
Midwestern State |
1 |
262 |
|
4 |
Angelo State |
2 |
212 |
|
5 |
Incarnate Word |
- |
211 |
|
6 |
Texas Woman's |
- |
176 |
|
7 |
Abilene Christian |
1 |
170 |
|
8 |
Cameron |
- |
157 |
|
9 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
- |
98 |
|
10 |
Eastern New Mexico |
|
93 |
|
11 |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
|
41 |
###
