INDIANAPOLIS – University of Connecticut senior Maya Moore is the first-ever three-time winner of The State Farm® Wade Trophy, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today. The prestigious award, regarded as “The Heisman of Women’s Basketball,” is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Player of the Year by the WBCA and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS).
“For the last four years women’s basketball fans have been blessed with the opportunity to watch one of the greatest talents to ever play this game,” said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. “Maya Moore personifies the purity of the game. She represents the best this game has to offer. But even more importantly, Maya is a true scholar-athlete who has excelled both academically and athletically. I am honored to present to her on behalf of the WBCA and the NAGWS the State Farm Wade Trophy for an unprecedented third straight year.”
Moore, who last year joined Seimone Augustus (2005 and 2006) and Nancy Lieberman (1979 and 1980) as the only two-time recipients of the State Farm Wade Trophy, has posted a 150-3 record at UConn. She has led the Huskies to an NCAA-record 90-game winning streak, four BIG EAST Championships and four NCAA® Women’s Final Four® appearances. Sunday night her team continues its quest for a third national championship in a row, and eighth overall.
A 6-foot forward who is averaging 23.4 points per game this season (19.7 points per game in her collegiate career), Moore became the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer earlier this season and is only the seventh player in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to score at least 3,000 career points. She is one of only two players to be selected as a First Team All-American four times. She won the BIG EAST Player of the Year Award three times and was voted as the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament in 2010.
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Equally impressive is Moore’s performance in the classroom. She recently was named BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Capital One University Division All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America for the second-consecutive year. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native who sports a 3.7 GPA in an individualized major of sports media promotion, is a three-time Academic All-America pick.
“Moore has had an incredible career, and State Farm is honored to recognize her as The 2011 State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year,” said Pam El, Marketing Vice President for State Farm. “Moore’s dedication and commitment to the game of basketball and her outstanding accomplishments as a student-athlete make her truly deserving of this wonderful award.”
The State Farm Wade Trophy, now in its 34th year, is named after the late, legendary three-time national champion Delta State University coach, Lily Margaret Wade. The award debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women’s national player of the year award in college basketball.
The first recipient of the Wade Trophy was Carol Blazejowski of Montclair State in 1978. Other Wade Trophy/NCAA Division I Player of the Year recipients include many standouts such as Teresa Weatherspoon (1988), DeLisha Milton-Jones (1997), Candace Parker (2007), Ticha Penicheiro (1998), Sue Bird (2002) and Diana Taurasi (2003).
The WBCA and the NAGWS first partnered in June 2000 and for the past ten years have worked together to present The State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year Award. A committee composed of coaches, administrators and media from across the United States selects the winner.
Moore will be formally presented the award during the WBCA Awards Show, which will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, April 4, in the Indiana Convention Center’s Sagamore Ballroom. This event is part of the WBCA National Convention and is held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women’s Final Four® in Indianapolis.
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