Media, coaches pick Arizona women’s basketball to finish in top three of Pac-12

Arizona women’s basketball was picked to finish near the top of the Pac-12 in separate votes by the conference’s coaches and media members.

Arizona placed third in the Pac-12 preseason coaches poll with 100 points, behind Stanford (121) and Oregon (101). Stanford received 11 of 12 first-place votes, the other going to Utah (Stanford is required to award their first-place vote to another program).

UCLA ranked fourth in the coaches poll, followed by Utah and Oregon State to round out the top half of the league. ASU, which is led by first-year head coach Natasha Adair, was picked to finish last in the league.

In the 28-member media poll, Arizona was picked to finish second behind Stanford. The Cardinal received all 28-first place votes. Oregon, UCLA, Utah and Oregon State make up the top half of the poll. The media also picked ASU to finish last.

The polls were released Tuesday ahead of women’s basketball media day.

Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Stanford (11) 121
2. Oregon 101
3. Arizona 100
4. UCLA 91
5. Utah (1) 84
6. Oregon State 62
7. Washington State 61
8. Colorado 55
9. USC 50
10. Washington 28
11. California 21
12. Arizona State 18

Pac-12 Preseason Media Poll

1. Stanford (28) 336
2. Arizona 291
3. Oregon 275
4. UCLA 237
5. Utah 226
6. Oregon State 181
7. Washington State 170
8. Colorado 145
9. USC 105
10. Washington 78
11. California 71
12. Arizona State 69