|
In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
|
30 women named preseason John R. Wooden All-Americans
Wednesday August 13, 2003
LOS ANGELES (AP) Thirty players including Diana Taurasi of
NCAA champion Connecticut and Alana Beard of Duke have been
selected as preseason John R. Wooden Award All-Americans.
The Wooden Award will be presented to the nation's top female
basketball player for the first time in April. The men's award
began in 1976.
Taurasi led the Huskies to their second straight national title
last season, averaging 17.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
Beard led the Blue Devils to a second straight Final Four
appearance, averaging 22 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.8 steals.
The other Final Four teams have two players each on the list.
They are Texas' Stacy Stephens and Heather Schreiber and
Tennessee's Shyra Ely and Loree Moore.
Penn State and Kansas State also have two representatives each.
They are Kelly Mazzante and Tanisha Wright of Penn State, and
Nicole Ohlde and Kendra Wecker of Kansas State.
Southern California is represented with forward-center Ebony
Hoffman.
The 30 players announced Wednesday were selected based on last
season's individual performances and team records. The list will be
pared to 20 players in mid-January, and then 10-to-15 players who
maintain a 2.0 grade-point average.
A national media panel will then cast votes for the five-member
All-American team and the Wooden Award winner.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
|