NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kayla McBride of Notre Dame, Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike, Odyssey Sims from Baylor, Connecticut’s Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas from Maryland are the five nominees for the Honda Sports Award for basketball as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) today.
In December, UConn’s Marie Elena Bolles earned the honor in field hockey after leading the Huskies to the 2013 National Championship and earning National Player of the Year recognition.
The Honda Sports Award is presented annually by the CWSA to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2014 Honda Cup. The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).
The Honda Sports award winner for basketball will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
The CWSA presents the Honda Sports Award annually to top women student-athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports. Honda Sports award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sports award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2014 Honda Cup award presented in June.
The sport of basketball has produced the most Honda Cup award winners with 15 student-athletes in the sport winning the prestigous honor. Most recently Brittney Griner of Baylor earned the honor in 2012 preceded by Connecticut’s Maya Moore who had back-to-back wins in 2010 and 2011.
THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 37 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.7 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.
