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ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball
Writers Association has selected 20 outstanding players
for its 2013 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Midseason Watch List.
Members of the association's board of directors chose the players
to be included on the list as contenders for the Ann Meyers Drysdale
Award.
The award is to be presented to the women's national player
of the year by its namesake at the USBWA women's awards press conference
on April 7 in the interview room of the New Orleans Arena, 3:30
p.m. local time prior to the start of the NCAA Women's Final Four
semifinals, which is a change from the morning breakfast in past
seasons.
The coach of the year award will be presented as will the Pat
Summitt Most Courgeaous Award.
New Marquette women's assistant coach Tyler Summitt, the son of
the former Hall of Fame Tennessee coach, will be one of the presenters
of the award given to his mother a year ago for her courageous battle
against early onset dementia.
Teammates from Connecticut, Baylor, Duke, Penn State, and Maryland
headline the list that includes five Big East players. Connecticut's
Stefanie Dolson, Kaleena Moaqueda-Lewis and Kelly Faris are joined
by sister Big East standouts Kayla Alexander of Syracuse and Skylar
Diggins of Notre Dame. The pair of Baylor stars are Brittney Griner
and Odyssey Sims, while the Lady Lion guard tandem of Maggie Lucas
and Alex Bentley are joined by Blue Devils teammates Chelsea Gray
and Elizabeth Williams and Terrapin teammates Alyssa Thomas and
Tianna Hawkins.
Also named are Delaware star Elena Delle Donne of the Colonial
Athletic Association, Princeton star Niveen Rasheed of the Ivy League,
along with Big 12 standout Angel Goodrich of Kansas, Texas A&M
star Kelsey Bone and Kentucky star A'dia Matthies of the Southeastern
Conference. The Pac-12 is represented by Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike
and California's Gennifer Brandon.
Five Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week from this
season are featured: Stanford's Ogwumike, Connecticut's Dolson,
Texas A&M's Bone, Penn State's Lucas, and Baylor's Griner. One
Canadian native was chosen in Syracuse's Alexander.
Overall, the list by class has nine seniors, nine juniors and
two sophomores.
Following is the complete watch list.
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2013 ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE MIDSEASON WATCH LIST |
| Pos. |
No. |
Player, School |
Ht. |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| G |
40 |
Kayla Alexander,
Syracuse |
6-4 |
Sr. |
Milton, Ont. |
| G |
20 |
Alex Bentley, Penn
State |
5-7 |
Sr. |
Indianapolis, Ind. |
| C |
3 |
Kelsey Bone, Texas
A&M |
6-4 |
Jr. |
Houston, Texas |
| F |
25 |
Gennifer Brandon,
California |
6-2 |
Jr. |
Sylmar, Calif. |
| G/F |
11 |
Elena Delle Donne,
Delaware |
6-5 |
Sr. |
Wilmington, Del. |
| G |
4 |
Skylar Diggins,
Notre Dame |
5-9 |
Sr. |
South Bend, Ind. |
| C |
31 |
Stefanie Dolson,
Connecticut |
6-5 |
Jr. |
Port Jervis, N.Y. |
| G |
34 |
Kelly Faris, Connecticut |
5-11 |
Sr. |
Plainfield, Ind. |
| G |
3 |
Angel Goodrich,
Kansas |
5-4 |
Sr. |
Tahlequah, Okla. |
| G |
12 |
Chelsea Gray, Duke |
5-11 |
Jr. |
Manteca, Calif. |
| C |
42 |
Brittney Griner,
Baylor |
6-8 |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
| F |
21 |
Tianna Hawkins,
Maryland |
6-3 |
Sr. |
Clinton, Md. |
| G |
33 |
Maggie Lucas, Penn
State |
5-10 |
Jr. |
Narberth, Pa. |
| G |
1 |
A'dia Matthies,
Kentucky |
5-9 |
Sr. |
Louisville, Ky. |
| F |
23 |
Kaleena Moaqueda-Lewis,
Connecticut |
6-0 |
So. |
Anaheim Hills, Calif. |
| F |
13 |
Chiney Ogwumike,
Stanford |
6-3 |
Jr. |
Cypress, Texas |
| G/F |
24 |
Niveen Rasheed,
Princeton |
6-0 |
Jr. |
Danville, Calif. |
| G |
0 |
Odyssey Sims, Baylor |
5-8 |
Jr. |
Irving, Texas |
| F |
25 |
Alyssa Thomas,
Maryland |
6-2 |
Jr. |
Harrisburg, Pa. |
| C |
1 |
Elizabeth Williams,
Duke |
6-3 |
So. |
Virginia Beach, Va. |
| By conference:
Big East (5), ACC (4), Big 12 (3), Big Ten (2), Pac-12:
(2), SEC (2), Colonial (1), Ivy (1). |
| By class:
Seniors (9), Juniors (9), Sophomores (2). |
While these standout players are the leading contenders to be
named to the USBWA's women's All-America team and as finalists for
the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, all Division I women's players remain
eligible for postseason honors from the USBWA. Voting for both the
women's All-America team and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award are done
directly by the membership with the All-America team is to be announced
in late March.
All credentialed media for the Women's Final Four are invited
to the awards press conference but others who have interest in attending
should e-mail Mel Greenberg at poll416@gmail.com to be included on
a supplementary list that will be used to avoid complications in
the arena in New Orleans.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in
1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers.
With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential
organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America
team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA
and its award programs, contact executive director Joe Mitch at
314-795-6821.
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