The University of Kentucky women?s basketball team received another Top 20 preseason honor as it was ranked No. 15 by the Street & Smith’s College Basketball Preview.

The Wildcats also were selected to the preseason lists by two other sports publications this month, ranking 14th by Athlon Sports and 18th by Lindy?s Basketball Annual.

?It?s an honor to be recognized for all of the things we?ve accomplished,? UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. ?I keep telling the team that we aren?t the underdog anymore. Everyone is going to bring their best game against us now. We need to maintain that hunger and desire to keep climbing the ladder. That is something they have got to keep as strong as it was last year.?

Kentucky finished 22-9 in 2005-06 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 16/17 Michigan State.

DeMoss, named the 2006 SEC Coach of the Year by the league coaches and The Associated Press, welcomes back 10 letter winners and all five starters from last season?s squad, including All-SEC selection Samantha Mahoney (Detroit), junior center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.), and sharp-shooting senior Jenny Pfeiffer. Senior forward Jennifer Humphrey (Memphis, Tenn.) also is back after receiving a medical hardship for missing all but six games of her sophomore year with an illness. Humphrey led UK and ranked fourth in the SEC last season in rebounding (8.5 rpg). Carly Ormerod (Louisville, Ky.), an All-SEC Freshman team member last season, returns as the floor general after starting in all 31 games during her rookie campaign and averaging a team-high 31.1 minutes per game. UK welcomes three prep standouts in Brittany Edelen (Springfield, Ky.), Amani Franklin (Decatur, Ga.,) and Lydia Watkins (Hopkinsville, Ky.)

The first opportunity to see the 2006-07 UK Hoops squad is Friday, Oct. 13 at Big Blue Madness in Rupp Arena at 9 p.m. ET.

I?m looking forward to seeing how we get out on that court and how we handle ourselves,? DeMoss said. ?I?m looking forward to seeing how we stack up against our tough pre-conference competition and how we matchup against some really good teams in the country.?

2006-07 Street & Smith?s Top 25 Poll

1. Maryland
2. North Carolina
3. Oklahoma
4. Stanford
5. Tennessee
6. Ohio State
7. Duke
8. Connecticut
9. Texas A&M
10. Georgia
11. Vanderbilt
12. Arizona State
13. LSU
14. Rutgers
15. Kentucky
16. New Mexico
17. Texas Tech
18. Old Dominion
19. DePaul
20. Virginia
21. George Washington
22. Purdue
23. Iowa State
24. Pittsburgh
25. Southern California