Media days group tabs Arkansas 10th

Birmingham, Ala. — Vanderbilt was predicted to win the 2009 Southeastern Conference women’s basketball championship in a voting of a select panel of both SEC and national media members.

The rebuilding Arkansas Razorbacks were voted 10th in the preseason poll, just six votes out of ninth place. Head coach Tom Collen and senior post player Whitney Jones will participate in the SEC media day on Thursday morning.

With three returning starters but only six letterwinners and six rookie players, Arkansas’ position in the preseason poll came as no surprise.

The Commodores are coming off a 25-9 season with a 11-3 SEC record. They earned 12 first-place votes, topping Tennessee which earned nine votes and Georgia which earned four votes as SEC Champion.

Vanderbilt tops the order of finish with 273 points, with Tennessee (261), Auburn (246), Georgia (216), LSU (183) and Florida (174) rounding out the top half of the league.

Kentucky comes in at seven with 129 votes. Ole Miss (126), Mississippi State (87), Arkansas (81), South Carolina (72) and Alabama (25) round out the bottom half of the conference.

Auburn senior DeWanna Bonner was the overwhelming choice of the media for SEC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year with 24 votes, the remaining vote was for Vanderbilt’s Christina Wirth. Joining Bonner and Wirth on the All-SEC First Team were Florida’s Marshae Dotson, Georgia’s Ashley Houts and Ole Miss’ Shawn Goff. Second team consists of Auburn’s Whitney Boddie, Florida’s Sha Brooks, Georgia’s Angel Robinson, LSU’s Allison Hightower and Tennessee’s Angie Bjorklund and Shekinna Stricklen.

Points were compiled on a 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Each media member also voted for one team as an overall conference champion and a five-player All-SEC Team.

The 2008-09 SEC Media Preseason Poll tips off SEC Basketball Media Days, October 23-24 at the Birmingham Marriott in Alabama.

Preseason Media Poll(First-Place Votes in Parentheses) SEC Champion: Vanderbilt (12), Tennessee (9), Georgia (4) Order of Finish1. Vanderbilt 273 points2. Tennessee 261 points3. Auburn 246 points 4. Georgia 216 points5. LSU 183 points6. Florida 174 points7. Kentucky 129 votes8. Ole Miss 126 points9. Mississippi State 87 points 10. Arkansas 81 points11. South Carolina 72 points12. Alabama 25 pointsPlayer of the Year: DeWanna Bonner, Auburn (24), Christina Wirth, Vanderbilt (1)All-SEC First-TeamDeWanna Bonner, AuburnMarshae Dotson, FloridaAshley Housts, GeorgiaShawn Goff, Ole MissChristina Wirth, VanderbiltAll-SEC Second-TeamWhitney Boddie, AuburnSha Brooks, FloridaAngel Robinson, GeorgiaAllison Hightower, LSUAngie Bjorklund, TennesseeShekinna Stricklen, Tennessee