As the 2002-03 season draws near, the Duke women's basketball team continues to be the early favorite. The Blue Devils received their third preseason No. 1 ranking Friday, this time by the All-Star Girls Report (ASGR).

	ASGR'S TOP 25
	1. Duke 2. Tennessee 3. Connecticut 4. Georgia 5. LSU 6. Texas Tech 7. Texas 8. Vanderbilt 9. Purdue 10. Penn State 11. Kansas State 12. Stanford 13. North Carolina 14. Colorado 15. Virginia 16. Notre Dame 17. Clemson 18. Oregon 19. TCU 20. Ohio State 21. Arkansas 22. Oklahoma 23. Mississippi State 24. N.C. State 25. Florida

The Blue Devils, who also topped SLAM Magazine's preseason poll and Athlon's preseason rankings that were released earlier this month, were followed by Tennessee, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana State, Texas Tech, Texas, Vanderbilt, Purdue and Penn State.

In addition to its No. 1 ranking, Duke junior guard Alana Beard landed a spot on ASGR's preseason All-America first team. Sophomore Monique Currie (second team) and junior Iciss Tillis (third team) also were selected.

A 2002 Kodak All-America and Associated Press All-America honoree, Beard led the ACC with 19.8 points per game, 3.3 steals and a 57.2 field-goal percentage during Duke's run to the Final Four. Beard led the Blue Devils to a school-record 31 victories as Duke became the first ACC school to post a 19-0 mark in ACC action.

The 2002-03 Blue Devils return seven of eight letterwinners from last season's 31-4 squad.