STORRS, Conn. – Three members of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team have been named among the 25 players on the 2009-10 State Farm Wade Trophy “Watch” List, which was released on Thursday.
UConn senior Tina Charles (Jamaica, N.Y.) and sophomore Tiffany Hayes (Winter Haven, Fla.) join 2009 Wade Trophy recipient Maya Moore (Lawrenceville, Ga.) on the list. Connecticut and Stanford were the only two programs nationally to be represented on the list by three players.
Moore, the reigning consensus National Player of the Year, returns for her junior season after posting a UConn single-season record 754 points in 2008-09. Moore enters her junior campaign already boasting two of the top four single-season scoring efforts in the program’s history and has guided the Huskies to an overall record of 75-2, including two NCAA Final Four appearances and the 2009 NCAA National Championship during her first two collegiate seasons.
Charles, enters her senior season just five rebounds shy of 1,000 for her career and only 273 behind Rebecca Lobo’s UConn career-record total of 1,268, which was established in 1995. Charles was also the Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 NCAA Final Four after posting 25 points and 19 rebounds in the national championship victory over Louisville.
Hayes, along with Charles, spent the summer competing for the 2009 U.S. World University Games Team in Serbia, where she helped lead the United States to a gold medal. Expected to be a fixture in the UConn backcourt during her sophomore season, Hayes has already established herself as one of the nation’s most consistent long-range shooters, which combined with her ability to create her own shot, makes her one of the Huskies’ most versatile offensive players.
The State Farm Wade Trophy, now in its 33rd year and named after the late, legendary three-time national champion Delta State University coach, Lily Margaret Wade, debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women’s national player of the year award in college basketball. This highly prestigious award, regarded as the “Heisman of Women’s Basketball,” is organized by the WBCA, in conjunction with the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS).
The 2010 State Farm Wade Trophy winner will be announced at the WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four, in San Antonio, Texas, April 2-6.
Full list of players after the jump.
2009-10 Wade Trophy Watch List – Top 25 Candidates
(Based on a preseason poll. Players listed alphabetically.)
- Jayne Appel Senior F/C Stanford
- Jessica Breland Senior F North Carolina
- Tina Charles Senior C/F Connecticut
- Alysha Clark Senior F Middle Tennessee
- Allyssa DeHaan Senior C Michigan State
- Alexis Gray-Lawson Senior G Cal
- Tiffany Hayes Soph. G Connecticut
- Allison Hightower Senior G LSU
- Ashley Houts Senior G Georgia
- Jantel Lavender Junior C Ohio State
- Danielle McCray Senior G/F Kansas
- Jacinta Monroe Senior F/C Florida State
- Maya Moore Junior F Connecticut
- Jené Morris Senior G San Diego State
- Deirdre Naughton Senior G DePaul
- Kayla Pederson Junior F Stanford
- Ta’Shia Phillips Junior C Xavier
- Jeanette Pohlen Junior G Stanford
- Samantha Prahalis Soph. G Ohio State
- Andrea Riley Junior G Oklahoma State
- Danielle Robinson Junior G Oklahoma
- Jenna Smith Senior C Illinois
- Carolyn Swords Junior C Boston College
- Courtney Vandersloot Junior G Gonzaga
- Monica Wright Senior G Virginia
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