Women's Basketball: Paige Named Finalist
February 11, 2004 02:50 PM | General
February 11, 2004
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| Paige |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women's basketball junior Yolanda Paige has been named a nominee for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation's finest point guard. Paige is one of 12 candidates to make the first round of cuts from an initial list of 21.
This season the Virginia Beach, Va., native, who was one of 12 candidates for the award last year, has posted 181 assists and a 7.9 assists-per-game average, tops in the BIG EAST and third nationally. Paige is also third on the team in scoring with an 11.7 points-per-game average. She is fourth on the team in rebounding grabbing 4.8 per contest. She has helped guide the Mountaineers to an 18-5 overall record and a 9-2 conference mark.
Paige boasts 533 assists during her career, third-best at WVU, while currently owning the school record for career assist average (6.7).
Sponsored by the Detroit Rotary Club, the Nancy Lieberman Award is named after one of women's basketball's greatest players. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Lieberman holds the distinction of being the only athlete to receive the Wade Trophy Award twice. Past winners of the Nancy Lieberman Award include Connecticut's Sue Bird (2000, 2001, 2002) and Diana Taurasi (2003).
Joining Paige on this year's list are: Jamie Carey of Texas, Cristina Ciocan of South Carolina, Erin Grant of Texas Tech, Lindsey Harding of Duke, Temeka Johnson of LSU, Kelly Mazzante of Penn State, Sara Nord of Louisville, Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers, Taurasi of Connecticut, Erika Valek of Purdue, Lindsay Whalen of Minnesota.
The criterion for the award is based on floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills that personified Lieberman during her career.
Sportswriters across the country will nominate the finalists and eventual winner. The list of the nation's top 10 point guards will be determined in the coming weeks. This list is then sent out to all the sportswriters who have until mid-March to return their final ballot. A 4,3,2,1 point system is utilized to determine the winner, who will be announced in Detroit during the NCAA Women's Final Four weekend, April 2-4, 2004.
