Two C-USA Women's Basketball Players Named to Wooden Award Finalist list

Sandora Irvin

The John R. Wooden Award Committee has named TCU's senior Sandora Irvin and DePaul's junior Khara Smith as two of 17 finalists for its honor. The Women's Wooden Award, presented annually to the nation's top female collegiate basketball player, will be presented Saturday, April 9, during a national CBS telecast airing live at 1 p.m. (EST) from The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Irvin recently helped the Horned Frogs win their second Conference USA Tournament title in the past three years. She was selected to the All-Tournament Team for a third consecutive year and named Most Valuable Player for the second time in her career. Irvin was named the WBCA National Player of the Month for her December performance earlier in January. Irvin averaged 22.5 points, 13 rebounds, 3.6 blocks and 2.8 steals in TCU's eight games during the month. For the 2004-05 season, Irvin is averaging 20.1 points, 12 rebounds, 4.5 blocked shots, 2.1 assists and 2.5 steals. She ranks 11th in the nation in scoring, second in rebounding and third in blocks. Irvin broke the NCAA single-game record for blocked shots with 16 versus UAB Jan. 16. Irvin also had the first triple-double in school history against UAB by adding 20 points and 18 rebounds. The forward also broke the NCAA's career standard for blocked shots of 428, doing so versus Memphis Feb. 5. Her current total stands at 474 heading into the NCAA Championship.

Smith has led the Blue Demons to a 25-4 record and Conference USA championship with 18.4 points and 11.8 rebounds per game while shooting .619 from the field. In 29 games this season, the first team All-Conference USA honoree has tallied 21 double-doubles with nine games of at least 20 points. She will finish her junior season ranked among DePaul's all-time top 10 in nine statistical categories and is just one of five in the program's 31-year history with at least 1,500 points and 900 rebounds. She currently stands seventh all-time with 1,595 points and fifth with 961 career rebounds.

Seven NCAA conferences are represented on the ballot, including the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Conference USA, Pac-10, and the SEC. The best represented conferences include the Big Ten and Big 12 with four candidates each, and the SEC, which has three players nominated. Two teams have multiple players nominated, including LSU (Seimone Augustus and Temeka Johnson) and Baylor (Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young). Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers is the only candidate on the national ballot who was not a Wooden Award Midseason nominee. In total, nine seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and one freshman are represented on the ballot.

A panel of over 200 voters comprised of sports media members and women's college basketball experts from around the country will have until 2 p.m. Monday, March 28, to cast their votes for both the five-member All-America Team and Wooden Award recipient as the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in the United States. The Wooden Award opts for the March 28 deadline because it allows voters to evaluate players up until the Elite Eight has been determined.