Several from Pac-12 named to National Women's Basketball Watch Lists

SAN FRANCISCO - The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association this week announced candidate lists for five national awards and 13 Pac-12 student-athletes are those named to the watch lists. The awards honor the top players at each of the five positions in the women’s game.

Three of the five awards are named after all-time Pac-12 greats. The Basketball Hall of Fame and the WBCA will present a Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, a Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award and a Lisa Leslie Center Award. Miller and Leslie spent their collegiate years at USC, while Meyers Drysdale was the first high school player to make the U.S. national team and the first woman to receive a full athletic scholarship to UCLA.

In addition to those honors, the esteemed Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award has been presented since 2000 and the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award will also be presented.

UCLA’s Kennedy Burke was named to two of the national watch lists - the small forward and shooting guard list. Eight Pac-12 teams have at least one player named to at least one of the watch lists.

The individual winners of the five awards will be announced during ESPN2’s telecast of the national semifinal games in the 2018 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, March 30. In addition, the Wade Trophy, the sport’s oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award, will also be presented at that time.

For more information on the awards, visit www.hoophallawards.com.

NANCY LIEBERMAN POINT GUARD AWARD
Jordin Canada, UCLA
Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon
Kennedy Leonard, Colorado

ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE SHOOTING GUARD AWARD
Lexi Bando, Oregon
Kennedy Burke, UCLA
Brittany McPhee, Stanford

CHERYL MILLER SMALL FORWARD AWARD
Kennedy Burke, UCLA

KATRINA MCCLAIN POWER FORWARD AWARD
Kristine Anigwe, California
Ruthy Hebard, Oregon

LISA LESLIE CENTER AWARD
Monique Billings, UCLA
Marie Gülich, Oregon State
Emily Potter, Utah
Kristen Simon, USC
Alanna Smith, Stanford