WICHITA – Preseason honors have begun to set in for the Wichita State women's basketball team.  Website CollegeSportsMadness.com named Alex Harden its Missouri Valley Conference preseason Player of the Year and Jody Adams its preseason Coach of the Year.

Harden is the leading returning scorer for the Shockers.  The junior is coming off a season in which she earned the league's Defensive Player of the Year award and first-team all-conference recognition while landing on the all-tournament team.  Harden led the team with 11.7 points per game, 55 steals, 34 blocked shots, and 124 assists.  In Valley games, Harden averaged 13.6 points while shooting .505 from the field.

Adams was named the MVC Coach of the Year in 2012-13 after leading Wichita State to the program's first-ever regular season conference championship, conference tournament championship, and NCAA Tournament appearance.  She also secured the highest-rated recruiting class in school history last year.

The official preseason poll and all-conference team will be announced by the Missouri Valley Conference at the league's Basketball Tipoff event on Oct. 30 in Chicago, Ill.