One year after having no UConn women's basketball players named the five-member Associated Press preseason team, the Huskies led the way with the trio of Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson and Gabby Williams joining South Carolina's A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Mitchell of Ohio State on the squad.

The voting was hardly a surprise considering that all five players were among 10 selected to the 2016-17 Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-American team announced during the Final Four. The only other players with remaining eligibility on that squad were Baylor's Kalani Brown and Brianna Turner of Notre Dame, who will be sidelined this season as she continues to recover from the knee injury she suffered in the 2017 NCAA tournament.

This is the first time three teammates were named to the AP preseason team.

Collier was UConn's leading scorer, averaging 20.4 points per game and contributed a team-best 9.1 rebounds per game and also led the 36-1 Huskies with 77 blocked shots. Samuelson averaged 20.2 points per contest and her 119 3-pointers were two shy of UConn's single-season record set by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis during the 2014-15 season. Williams averaged 14.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and led UConn with 190 assists and 100 steals.

Duke transfer Azura' Stevens, eligible this season after sitting out the 2016-17 campaign, was among the other players to receive at least one vote from the national panel.