BYU's All-American Thorn Headlines MWC All-Conference Team

LAS VEGAS -- All-American Erin Thorn, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Orem, Utah was named to the Mountain West Conference Women's Coaches and Media Preseason All-Conference Team, Wednesday at the annual MWC Basketball Media Day. The Cougars were picked to finish third and fifth in the media and coaches polls.

In her first season with the Cougars, Thorn was selected to the Women's Basketball News Service National Freshman All-America Team. She led the BYU team in scoring averaging 13.2 points per game and was named second team All-MWC in 1999-00. Thorn was also honored as the MWC Freshman of the Year last season.

Thorn was the lone sophomore on the coaches conference team. Others receiving the preseason honor included juniors Linda Frohlich from UNLV and Carrie Bacon from Wyoming along with seniors Miranda Sanchez from New Mexico and Heather Haanen from CSU.

On the media team, Thorn and CSU's Ashley Augspurger were the two sophomores chosen. Utah's junior forward Lauren Beckman made the media selection along with BYU's Julie Whetton who was named as the top newcomer. Whetton is a 5-8 guard from Silver City, New Mexico where she was named the New Mexico USA Today Player of the Year as a senior at Silver City High School.

Utah led both women's preseason polls as the favorite to repeat as MWC champions, picking up seven first place votes by the coaches and 10 from the media. BYU finished the voting in third by the media and fifth by the coaches. The Cougars finished the 1999-00 season with a 22-4, 10-4 second place finish, advancing to the NCAA Championships, then losing to No. 22 Oklahoma 81-86 in first round action.

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Preseason Coaches' Poll

Rk. School (1st place votes) PTS

1. Utah (7) 56

2. Colorado State (1) 47

3. New Mexico 43

4. UNLV 39

5. BYU 35

6. Wyoming 25

7. San Diego State 21

8. Air Force 14

Preseason Media Poll

1. Utah (10) 136

2. Colorado State (5) 125

3. BYU (2) 110

4. UNLV (1) 105

5. New Mexico 86

6. Wyoming 53

7. San Diego State 50

8. Air Force 19

Coaches Preseason All-Conference Team

Linda Frohlich, 6-2, Jr., F, UNLV

Erin Thorn, 5-10, So., G, BYU

Miranda Sanchez, 6-1, Sr., F, UNM

Heather Haanen, 5-11, Sr., F, CSU Carrie Bacon, 6-0, Jr., F, Wyoming

Media Preseason All-Conference Team

Linda Frohlich, 6-2, Jr., F, UNLV

Erin Thorn, 5-10, So., G, BYU

Lauren Beckman, 6-2, Jr., F/C, Utah

Ashley Augspurger, 6-1, So., F, CSU

Carrie Bacon, 6-0, Jr., F, Wyoming

Coaches Top Returning Player

Linda Frohlich, UNLV

Media Top Returning Player

Linda Frohlich, UNLV

Coaches Preseason Top Newcomer

Melissa Forest, 6-2, Fr., F, UNM

Media Preseason Top Newcomer

Julie Whetton, 5-8, Fr., G, BYU

-BYU-