Two Terp Women Make Wooden Award Top 20 Cut
1/31/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland's Crystal Langhorne and Kristi Toliver have made the midseason cut for another national player of the year honor after making the top 30 for the Naismith Award. Langhorne and Toliver are one of 20 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, the Women's Wooden Award committee recently announced.
Senior Crystal Langhorne (Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro) and junior Kristi Toliver (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) are two of four candidates on the list from the ACC. Maryland is also one of just two teams with multiple candidates.
Langhorne is on the verge of becoming the first 2,000-point scorer in the history of the program, needing just two points. Earlier this season, she broke the Maryland women's basketball scoring and rebounding record, also claiming the men's and women's Maryland rebounding mark. She was the first women's basketball player in school history to grab 1,000 rebounds. Once she scores her 2,000th point, Langhorne would become the 106th player in ACC history to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Langhorne is third on the team in scoring with 15.9 ppg, and leads the squad with 9.5 rpg, which is second in the ACC.
Toliver has been having a solid campaign at the point, ranking third in the nation with an 8.0 assists per game average. She also leads the team with a 17.0 scoring average. A finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award last year, she is listed as one of the players to watch for the honor this season. Earlier this year, she eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau and also broke the school record for career threes made. She also owns the career free throw mark, shooting better than 86 percent.
Players who do not make the midseason list are still eligible for consideration for the Wooden Award. In March, the Women's Advisory Board will release the nations of the players selected to the official ballot. The ballot consists of approximately 15 players who have proven to their universities that they are making progress towards graduation and are maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. More than 300 voters, comprised of sports media members and women's basketball experts from across the nation, will cast their votes for the five-member All-American team and Wooden Award honor as the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in the nation.
The 2008 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of April 11-12. The 32nd Annual Wooden Award Gala, with a reception and dinner program, will take place the evening of Friday, April 11 at the Sheraton Downtown Los Angeles. On Saturday, April 12, the Wooden Award Announcement and trophy presentation will be televised, followed by a press conference and sponsor reception.
The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university's general scholarship fund.
The fifth-ranked Terrapins are in action tonight at Comcast Center, hosting Miami at 7 p.m. They hit the road and travel to Virginia Tech on Monday, Feb. 4. The game will be televised on the ACC Regional Sports Network (Comcast SportsNet in the Baltimore/Washington area).
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