Bird Leads Women's Basketball Naismith Award Pre-Season Candidates

ATLANTA, GA (October 15, 2001) -- Four University of Connecticut women’s basketball student-athletes were named as 2001-02 Naismith Award Pre-Season Candidates, announced Monday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Senior guard Sue Bird (Syosset, NY) was the leading vote-receiver, followed by Chantelle Anderson of Vanderbilt and LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State.

Bird, a two-time recipient of the Nancy Lieberman-Cline National Point Guard of the Year Award, averaged 10.9 points and 5.0 assists per game last season. Her 169 assists from 2000-01 rank third on UConn’s all-time season assists chart. For her career, Bird is registering 10.4 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Joining Bird on the list of pre-season Naismith Award candidates are senior forward Swin Cash (McKeesport, PA), senior forward Tamika Williams (Dayton, OH) and sophomore guard Diana Taurasi (Chino, CA). Cash is UConn’s top returning scorer and rebounder, having averaged 12.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 2000-01. Williams, who ranks 17th on Connecticut’s career points list with 1,049, recorded 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season. The 2001 BIG EAST Tournament and NCAA Tournament East Region Most Outstanding Player, Taurasi averaged 10.9 points per game and was second in the BIG EAST in three-pointers (71) during her freshman campaign last season.

Connecticut was the only school to have four selections on the pre-season Naismith Award candidate list. Tennessee and Louisiana Tech were represented by three selections while Oklahoma and Baylor also had multiple candidates.

The Naismith Awards program is in its 34th year. Rebecca Lobo is UConn’s only recipient of the Naismith Player of the Year Award, having garnered the accolade after Connecticut’s 35-0 National Championship season in 1995.