<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1727983730090.jpeg" alt="Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Kansas State Athletics</figcaption>
 </figure><div>The Conference has announced the preseason awards and poll for the 2024-25 Big 12 women&rsquo;s basketball season. League coaches voted on the awards and poll and were not allowed to vote for their own team. K-State was selected as the favorite in the league&rsquo;s preseason poll for the first time in program history while Ayoka Lee is the first Wildcat to be named the Conference&rsquo;s Preseason Player of the Year since a three-year stretch when Nicole Ohlde earned the honors consecutively (2002-03, 2003-04) followed by Kendra Wecker in 2004-05. The Wildcats collected 26 wins last year for the first time since the 2002-03 season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Lee is a four-time All-Big 12 First Team selection and the two-time All-America honoree averaged 19.7 points per game and 8.6 rebounds last season. Baylor&rsquo;s Aaronette Vonleh and TCU&rsquo;s Hailey Van Lith were tabbed as the league&rsquo;s Preseason Co-Newcomers of the Year. It is the sixth consecutive season that BU has had a player collect newcomer honors while Van Lith is TCU&rsquo;s first newcomer selection.&nbsp; Vonleh was a Pac-12 All-Conference member for the 2023-2024 season and was named the league&rsquo;s Co-Most Improved Player during the 2022-23 season. Van Lith is a 2024 Olympics 3X3 bronze medalist and is the only active Division I player who has tallied at least 1,900 career points, 500 rebounds and 350 assists. Colorado&rsquo;s Tabitha Betson was chosen as the Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year in the Buffaloes&rsquo; first year back in the league since the 2010-11 season. The No. 48 ranked player in ESPN&rsquo;s Top 100 for the class of 2024 is the first CU student-athlete to earn the award since a three-year run of Colorado selections from the 1997-98 season through 1999-2000.&nbsp; Baylor and K-State have two selections each to the 10-member preseason team while Iowa State&rsquo;s Audi Crooks, K-State&rsquo;s Lee and West Virginia&rsquo;s JJ Quinerly were unanimous honorees. The&nbsp;<a id="OWAcc3acf99-0002-9903-2eb3-fb7157b271e5" href="https://big12sports.com/calendar.aspx?path=wbball" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">2024-25 season</a>&nbsp;tips off Monday, Nov. 4 with&nbsp;<a id="OWA43620997-5d79-d73b-2855-2267e16c4bb5" href="https://big12sports.com/news/2024/9/25/2024-25-big-12-womens-basketball-league-schedule-unveiled.aspx" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1">league action</a>&nbsp;set to commence Saturday, Dec. 21 as this year marks the Conference&rsquo;s first with 16 members. The regular season will be followed by the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women&rsquo;s Basketball Championship, which will take place in Kansas City&rsquo;s T-Mobile Center for the second consecutive season. The current league members combined to go 8-0 in their first game of the 2024 NCAA Tournament while 15 of the 16 teams finished the 2023-24 season in the top 101 of the NET rankings. Four Big 12 teams are ranked in the top 16 of ESPN&rsquo;s Women&rsquo;s Basketball Way-Too-Early Top 25, tied for the most of any league. 2024-25 Big 12 Women&rsquo;s Basketball Preseason Poll
<ol start="1" data-editing-info="{&quot;orderedStyleType&quot;:1}">
<li>K-State (7), 211 points</li>
<li>Iowa State (6), 209 points</li>
<li>Baylor (2), 194 points</li>
<li>TCU, 185 points</li>
<li>West Virginia (1), 184 points</li>
<li>Utah, 149 points</li>
<li>Arizona, 136 points</li>
<li>Kansas, 128 points</li>
<li>Colorado, 113 points</li>
<li>Texas Tech, 84 points</li>
<li>Oklahoma State, 80 points</li>
<li>BYU, 59 points</li>
<li>Cincinnati, 56 points</li>
<li>UCF, 54 points</li>
<li>Arizona State, 51 points</li>
<li>Houston, 27 points</li>
</ol>
(first-place votes) &nbsp; 2024-25 Big 12 Women&rsquo;s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year Ayoka Lee, K-State &nbsp; 2024-25 Big 12 Women&rsquo;s Basketball Preseason Co-Newcomers of the Year Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor Hailey Van Lith, TCU &nbsp; 2024-25 Big 12 Women&rsquo;s Basketball Preseason Freshman of the Year Tabitha Betson, Colorado &nbsp; 2024-25 Big 12 Women&rsquo;s Basketball Preseason All-Big 12 Team Sarah Andrews, Baylor Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kaitlin Peterson, UCF Audi Crooks, Iowa State* S'Mya Nichols, Kansas Ayoka Lee, K-State* Serena Sundell, K-State Hailey Van Lith, TCU Gianna Kneepkens, Utah JJ Quinerly, West Virginia* *Indicates unanimous selection. Players are sorted alphabetically by school.</div>

🏀 WBB: K-State picked No. 1 in Big 12 preseason poll for first time