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Dec. 18, 2018
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mel Greenberg
215-815-5943

Weekly women's honors continue each Tuesday this season

SMITH, CARR ARE USBWA WOMEN'S
NATIONAL, FRESHMAN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

ST. LOUIS (USBWA) – For the season's third U.S. Basketball Writers Association Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's National Player of the Week and the organization's women's freshman player honor, Stanford forward Alanna Smith is national player while Texas Tech guard Chrislyn Carr has been tabbed for the freshman citation after each was involved in helping their teams go unbeaten in games ending the week of Sunday, Dec. 16.

The USBWA weekly honors for Division I women's players will be handed out each Tuesday this season.

As the Pac-12 Conference player and Big 12 freshman weekly winners, both were nominated for the awards, which were chosen by Mel Greenberg, the USBWA coordinator for women's basketball, primarily from a pair of lists of Division I conference players and freshmen players of the week.

Smith, a senior 6-3 forward from Melbourne, Australia, scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds, shot 7-for-10 from the field for 58.3 percent – including connecting on 5-of-9 three-point attempts – as the Cardinal upset then-No. 3 Baylor and moved back into the Top 10 at No. 8 in the latest Associated Press women's basketball poll. She also helped defend the Bears' inside tandem of Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox, whose combined pre-game average just under 30 points was reduced to seven, shooting 3-of-11 in the game played at Stanford.

Carr, a freshman 5-5 guard from Davenport, Iowa, scored 35 points – the most for a freshman this week – and connected with nine three-pointers, tying a 14-year-old Red Raiders record in the women's program, in a win at Nevada. She connected with 13 shots overall, grabbed six steals, and scored 20 of her points in the second half as Texas Tech came up with its first true non-conference road victory in six seasons. She is just the fourth Red Raider freshman to score 35 or more points in a game.

Since the 1987-88 season, the USBWA has named a women's National Player of the Year. For the 2012-13 season, the national and weekly player award has been named for Hall of Famer and former UCLA All-American Ann Meyers Drysdale. At the conclusion of the regular season, the USBWA will name finalists for the award, which is voted on by the entire membership of the USBWA. The winner of the 2019 Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year will be announced and presented at the USBWA’s annual awards event in Tampa, site of the 2019 NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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 a women's All-America team since the 1996-97 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-795-6821.

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