Oct. 26, 2004
Kansas State senior forward Kendra Wecker was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year. Texas junior forward Daria Mieloszynska and Texas Tech sophomore center Patrice Edwards were chosen co-Big 12 Newcomers of the Year and Oklahoma forward Stephanie McGhee was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Players honored in preseason voting were chosen by the league's head coaches and released by the conference office Tuesday.
Wecker is the Big 12's top returning scorer (16.8 ppg) and second-leading returning rebounder (8.1 rpg) from a year ago. Her selection marks the third consecutive season a student-athlete from Kansas State has been chosen preseason player of the year joining two-time Big 12 Player of the Year honoree Nicole Ohlde.
Mieloszynska averaged 15.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists as a junior at Illinois Central College while being named a NJCAA All-America second team. Edwards averaged 12.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks as a freshman at Frank Phillips College (Borger, Texas). She was injured three games into her sophomore season and was granted a medical hardship, thus will be a sophomore at Texas Tech this year.
McGhee became the first girl in the state of Oklahoma to score more than 3,000 points during her high school career with 3,376. She averaged 30 points per game through her high school career and finished her senior season with 31.1 ppg and 12.3 rpg.
Joining Wecker on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team are Baylor's Sophia Young and the Texas trio of Tiffany Jackson, Heather Schreiber and Jamie Carey.
Young is the Big 12's top returning rebounder (8.6 rpg) for the second consecutive year. The junior forward was sixth in the league in scoring last year (16.7 ppg). Jackson, a sophomore forward, was the national Freshman of the Year in 2004. She finished 13th in the Big 12 in scoring (13.0 ppg) and ninth in rebounding (7.5 rpg). Schreiber, a senior forward, was 14th in the league in scoring (12.9 ppg) and also averaged 5.8 rpg. Carey returns for her sixth year of eligibility after being granted an additional season by the NCAA due to injury. The senior guard averaged 10.7 ppg last year and was the 2004 Jimmy V Foundation/ESPN "Comeback Award" recipient.
All five members of the Preseason All-Big 12 Team have been named to numerous Preseason All-America squads heading into the 2004-05 season. Wecker, Schreiber, Young and Carey were named to the 2004 All-Big 12 Conference first team while Jackson was on the second team as well as being named Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
2004-05 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Team
(coaches not allowed to vote for own players)
Preseason Player of the Year
Kendra Wecker, Kansas State, F, 5-11, Sr, Marysville, Kan./Marysville
Preseason Newcomers of the Year
Daria Mieloszynska, Texas, F, 6-2, Jr, Poznan, Poland/Illinois Central Junior College
Patrice Edwards, Texas Tech, C, 6-6, So, Trinidad-Tobago, West Indies/Frank Phillips College
Preseason Freshman of the Year
Stephanie McGhee, Oklahoma , G/F, 6-0, Fr, Howe, Okla./Howe
Preseason All-Big 12 Team
| Name, School | Pos. | Ht. | Cl-Exp | PPG | RPG | Hometown/Previous School(s) |
| Kendra Wecker, Kansas State | F | 5-11 | Sr-3L | 16.8 | 8.1 | Marysville, Kan./Marysville |
| Tiffany Jackson, Texas | F | 6-3 | So-1L | 13.0 | 7.5 | Dallas, Texas/Duncanville |
| Sophia Young, Baylor | F | 6-1 | Jr-2L | 16.7 | 8.6 | St. Vincent, West Indies/Evangel Academy (Shreveport, La.) |
| Heather Schreiber, Texas | F | 6-2 | Sr-3L | 12.9 | 5.8 | Windthorst, Texas/Windthorst |
| Jamie Carey, Texas | G | 5-6 | Sr-2L | 10.7 | 2.0 | Thornton, Colo./Horizon/Stanford |
Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically by school)
Baylor: Steffanie Blackmon; Iowa State: Anne O'Neil; Kansas State: Laurie Koehn, Megan Mahoney;Oklahoma: Dionnah Jackson; Texas Tech: Erin Grant, Alesha Robertson