Oct. 23, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Penn State Lady Lion senior guard Maggie Lucas (Narberth, Pa.) has been named to the preseason John R. Wooden Award Top 30 list for the National Player of the Year. Lucas, who was one of 15 finalists for the award last year, is among the 30 players on the preseason list for 2013-14. She is also one of three representatives from the Big Ten.
The Los Angeles Athletic Club has announced its John R. Wooden Award Women's Preseason Top 30 today, which is comprised of 30 student-athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. The list is chosen by a preseason poll of national college women's basketball media members.
The reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, Lucas loaded up her trophy case as a junior, earning All-America honors from the Associated Press (second team), USBWA (first team), Full Court (second team) and WBCA (honorable mention). Lucas is the third Lady Lion to win Big Ten Player of the Year accolades, joining Helen Darling (2000) and Kelly Mazzante (2003, 2004). She was also voted by the fans as the PremierPlayers.com Player of the Year.
The Narberth, Pa. native accounted for 20.1 points per game a year ago, becoming the first Lady Lion since Mazzante in 2004 to average 20 or more points in a season. Lucas also ranked sixth in the conference in steals (2.3) and tallied 4.5 rebounds per outing. She was also third in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (.900).
Lucas has established herself as arguably one of the best players in Penn State and Big Ten history from long range. She enters her final season in the Blue & White with 292 career three-pointers, just 65 triples away from Mazzante's school and conference record (357). Lucas ranks seventh in program history with 1,838 points and is on pace to become the fifth player in school history with 2,000 points. Additionally, Lucas is tops in school history in career free throw percentage (.887) and second in career three-point field goal percentage (.433).
About the John R. Wooden Award
The 38th annual Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy's will honor the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners the weekend of April 11-13, 2014. It will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and will recognize the Legends of Coaching Award recipient Tara VanDerveer of Stanford.
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Candace Parker ('07 and '08), Maya Moore ('09 and '11) and Brittney Griner ('12 and '13).
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award's name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award ceremony.
Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5231 or email at woodenaward@laac.net.
The Lady Lions will host Lock Haven in an exhibition game on Sun., Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. Penn State opens its season against St. Francis (Pa.) on Fri., Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. The Lady Lions will raise their 2013 Big Ten Championship banner at the season opener and give away commemorative banks to celebrate back-to-back Big Ten titles.
Lady Lion Basketball single-game and season tickets are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Single-game tickets are $15 and $12 for adults and seniors and $9 and $7 for youth (12 and younger). Season tickets are $99 for adults and $50 for youth (12 and under), this includes a Nittany Lion Kids Club Membership for 2013-14. New this year, the Lady Lions have introduced a Family Season Ticket package. For $200, fans will get two adult tickets and two youth tickets for the 2013-14 campaign. The PNC Flex Books are available again this year for $99. The Flex Book gives fans 12 vouchers, 10 that can be redeemed in any combination for Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball tickets throughout the year and two extra vouchers for the Nittany Lions' Coaches Vs. Cancer game and the Lady Lions' Pink Zone game.
The 2014 Pink Zone at Penn State will take place on Sunday, Feb. 16 as the Lady Lions take on Wisconsin in the Bryce Jordan Center at 1 p.m. Last year, the Lady Lions donated a record $260,000 to breast cancer causes. This year's fundraising efforts will benefit the Mount Nittany Medical Center, Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital and Lewistown Hospital. For more information on the Pink Zone at Penn State, visit the official Pink Zone website at www.pennsylvaniapinkzone.org.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstateladylions.
2013-14 Preseason John R. Wooden Award Top 30
Natalie Achonwa, Notre Dame
Rachel Banham, Minnesota
Brittany Boyd, California
Gennifer Brandon, California
Hallie Christofferson, Iowa State
Jerica Coley, FIU
Jazmine Davis, Washington
Diamond DeShields, North Carolina
Stefanie Dolson, UConn
Aaryn Ellenberg, Oklahoma
Bashaara Graves, Tennessee
Chelsea Gray, Duke
Cassie Harberts, USC
Bria Hartley, UConn
Jordan Hooper, Nebraska
Tricia Liston, Duke
Maggie Lucas, Penn State
Tyuanna Marshall, Georgia Tech
Kayla McBride, Notre Dame
Xylina McDaniel, North Carolina
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, UConn
Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford
Theresa Plaisance, LSU
Shoni Schimmel, Louisville
Meighan Simmons, Tennessee
Odyssey Sims, Baylor
DeNesha Stallworth, Kentucky
Breanna Stewart, UConn
Alyssa Thomas, Maryland
Elizabeth Williams, Duke