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LSU’S THERESA PLAISANCE, A
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE, NAMED TO WADE TROPHY WATCH
LIST
ATLANTA
– LSU senior forward Theresa Plaisance is one of 25 players nationally
who were named to the preseason watch list for the Wade Trophy, which
is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Player
of the Year, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced on
Tuesday.
Plaisance, a New Orleans native, is the Southeastern Conference’s
leading returning scorer after averaging 17.0 points per game as a
junior. She is one of four SEC players on the watch list, joining
Tennessee’s Meighan Simmons and Bashaara Graves and Kentucky’s DeNesha
Stallworth.
Plaisance became LSU’s first SEC scoring champion since Seimone
Augustus, who was also the program’s only Wade Trophy winner doing so
in 2005 and 2006. Plaisance was arguably the nation’s most improved
player as a junior, tallying double-figures in all but two games and
registering eight double-doubles en route to LSU’s first Sweet 16
appearance since 2008.
Plaisance was the only player in the SEC to rank in the top 10 in
scoring, rebounding (8.3 rpg), field goal percentage (43.7), free throw
percentage (72.8) and blocks (2.5 bpg). A first-team All-SEC recipient,
she heads into her senior campaign fourth in LSU history in blocked
shots with 101.
Plaisance leads an LSU team poised for an even stronger finish in
2013-14. The Lady Tigers return three starters and officially open the
season in the Sue Gunter Classic against Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 8 in
the Maravich Center. The season-opener is also the first round of the
WNIT.
Plaisance spent her summer with USA Basketball where she helped the
Americans to a gold medal at the World University Games in Russia.
Now in its 37th year, The Wade Trophy is named in honor of the late,
legendary three-time national champion Delta State University coach,
Lily Margaret Wade. Regarded as “The Heisman of Women’s Basketball,”
the award is presented annually to the NCAA Division I Player of the
Year by the National Association of Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS)
and the WBCA.
2014
Wade Trophy Preseason Watch List
|
Player
|
Institution
|
Position
|
Year
|
|
Natalie
Achonwa
|
Notre
Dame
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Rachel
Banham
|
Minnesota
|
Guard
|
Junior
|
|
Brittany
Boyd
|
California
|
Guard
|
Junior
|
|
Gennifer
Brandon
|
California
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Jerica
Coley
|
FIU
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Stefanie
Dolson
|
Connecticut
|
Center
|
Senior
|
|
Aaryn
Ellenberg
|
Oklahoma
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Bashaara
Graves
|
Tennessee
|
Forward
|
Sophomore
|
|
Chelsea
Gray
|
Duke
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Bria
Hartley
|
Connecticut
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Jordan
Hooper
|
Nebraska
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Maggie
Lucas
|
Penn
State
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Tyaunna
Marshall
|
Georgia
Tech
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Kayla
McBride
|
Notre
Dame
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Kaleena
Mosqueda-Lewis
|
Connecticut
|
Forward
|
Junior
|
|
Chiney
Ogwumike
|
Stanford
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Theresa
Plaisance
|
LSU
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Ebony
Rowe
|
Middle
Tennessee
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Shoni
Schimmel
|
Louisville
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Meighan
Simmons
|
Tennessee
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
Odyssey
Sims
|
Baylor
|
Guard
|
Senior
|
|
DeNesha
Stallworth
|
Kentucky
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Breanna
Stewart
|
Connecticut
|
Forward
|
Sophomore
|
|
Alyssa
Thomas
|
Maryland
|
Forward
|
Senior
|
|
Elizabeth
Williams
|
Duke
|
Center/Forward
|
Junior
|
|
