Taurasi Selected as Finalist for Naismith Player of the Year Award

ATLANTA, GA -- Junior Diana Taurasi (Chino, CA) of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team has been named a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year Award for the best women’s college basketball player in the country, announced yesterday by the President of the Atlanta Tipoff Club Jackie Bradford.

The Naismith Board of Selectors, which includes some the country’s leading basketball coaches, journalists and administrators, began the selection process earlier this year and have reduced the number of finalist by balloting to the twenty top male and female players they felt most deserving of the award.

Joining Taurasi as finalists are Chantelle Anderson (Vanderbilt), Alana Beard (Duke), Kara Braxton (Georgia), Coretta Brown (UNC), Shameka Christon (Arkansas), Gwen Jackson (Tennessee), Kara Lawson (Tennessee), Kelly Mazzante (Penn State), Nicole Ohlde (Kansas State), Jocelyn Penn (South Carolina), Plenette Pierson (Texas Tech), Nicole Powell (Stanford), Aiysha Smith(LSU), Stacy Stephens (Texas), LaToya Thomas (Mississippi State), Iciss Tillis (Duke), Kendra Wecker (Kansas State), Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota) and Shereka Wright (Purdue).

Taurasi is currently leading the undefeated and No. 1 UConn Huskies in all three major statistical categories. She averages 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game this season. Taurasi was a preseason candidate for the Naismith Player of the Year Award and preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year selected before the 2002-03 season. Last season, she was a Kodak All-American and a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year and the Honda Award.

The winners of the Naismith Awards, the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball, will be honored in Atlanta on Friday, April 11, 2003. The Naismith Awards program, now in its 35th year, honors the outstanding college basketball players in the United States. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of excellence in basketball for student athletes.