Sophomore guard Seimone Augustus was tabbed as the Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year at the SEC basketball media day in Birmingham and the Lady Tigers were predicted to finish second in the conference.
Augustus averaged 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Lady Tigers in 2002-2003 and also was named to the preseason first team All-SEC squad. Last season, she earned National Freshman of the Year and third team AP All-America honors, as well as being named to the second team All-SEC squad.
Other players chosen were Mississippi State’s Tan White, Jen Benningfield from Vanderbilt, Shyra Ely from Tennessee and Vanessa Hayden from Florida.
The Lady Tigers were behind only Tennessee in the preseason poll, receiving 247 votes and six first place votes. LSU finished last season 30-4, were SEC Tournament champions and went to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Texas.
LSU lost to UT 68-65 in Baton Rouge, but defeated the Lady Volunteers 78-62 in the SEC Tournament final. The teams face off this year on Feb. 29 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Georgia (236 votes) was third, followed by Vanderbilt (186) and Auburn in the top five.
Senior point guard Temeka Johnson earned preseason second team all-conference honors. Johnson averaged 10.0 points and 5.9 assists last year for LSU.