Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus UCLA on March 29, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 70
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Final
Women's Basketball
58
vs UCLA
70
Alana Beard Named AP Player Of The Year
4/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 3, 2004
By CHUCK SCHOFFNER
AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS - Duke's Alana Beard and Houston's Joe Curl won The Associated Press player and coach of the year awards in women's basketball on Saturday after leading their teams through championship seasons.
Beard, a 5-foot-11 senior, was the key figure in the best four-year run in Duke history. The Blue Devils earned their first No. 1 ranking when she was a junior, won the ACC regular-season and tournament championship in each of her four years and reached the Final Four twice.
Along the way, Beard became just the second three-time AP All-American and the first women's player at Duke to have her jersey number retired. This season's team was 30-4, finished at No. 1 in the final poll and reached the regional finals.
"I've been blessed," Beard said. "I know for a fact I wouldn't have what I have without my teammates."
Beard averaged 20.2 points and 5.2 rebounds during the regular season, shot 50.8 percent and led the team in steals. With 2,697 points, she's the leading scorer in Duke basketball history, men or women. She's also the first player in NCAA men's or women's history to get more than 2,500 points and 400 steals.
But Duke coach Gail Goestenkors says Beard will be remembered as much for who she is as how she played. Goestenkors realized the extent of the adoration for Beard last summer, when she saw someone retrieve a wad of gum that Beard had thrown away.
"Because the media has allowed the general public to get to know who she is as a person, I think they appreciate who she is," Goestenkors said. "I think she's been a great role model for young boys and girls."
Voting for the awards was done before the NCAA tournament by the media panel that picks the weekly AP Top 25. Beard was the overwhelming choice, receiving 39 of 47 votes. Connecticut's Diana Taurasi, the 2003 player of the year, had four votes, while Penn State's Kelly Mazzante received three and Stanford's Nicole Powell one.
Curl, who guided Houston to a school record for victories in a 28-4 season, received 19 votes. Goestenkors had nine and was followed by Jody Conradt of Texas with seven, Penn State's Rene Portland (5), Tennessee's Pat Summitt (3) and Purdue's Kristy Curry (2). Mississippi's Carol Ross and West Virginia's Mike Carey each had one vote.
"It's really about the players, and I really, truly mean that," Curl said. "I look at this as a really neat thing for our program. I'm very humbled by that, very proud."
Houston won the Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years. Just five years ago, in Curl's first season at the school, the Cougars were 5-22.
Curl jokes that he's a better cook than coach, and he puts those skills to use on football Saturdays, when he and his players grill hot dogs for tailgating fans. He also believes athletes should be active beyond the court and requires his players to perform at least 50 hours of community service every year.
"I'm really not a coach first," Curl said. "First I'm a Christian, second I'm a husband, third I'm the father of two daughters plus the whole basketball team, fourth on the list I'm a teacher and fifth, I'm a coach.
"I take that coaching title very seriously, but to be the best coach you can be, you have to be better at the first four things on the list than the last one."
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