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Alana Beard Wins First Women's Wooden Award
April 9, 2004
By JOHN NADEL
AP Sports Writer
MARINA DEL REY, Calif. - Three-time All-American Alana Beard of Duke won the inaugural women's John R. Wooden Award, given to the country's top college basketball player.
Beard led the Blue Devils to a 30-4 record and the No. 1 ranking in the season's final Associated Press poll. The 5-foot-11 senior from Shreveport, La., previously was voted player of the year by the AP and won the Wade Trophy.
Beard, who averaged 19.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists, received the Wooden Award in a ceremony at the California Yacht Club on Friday.
"It's John Wooden, he's such an incredible person, he's a legend in our game," Beard said. "To be mentioned in the same breath as this man, I can't even put into words. To be the first woman to receive this award is so special to me."
With 2,700 points, Beard is 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.
Beard beat out Diana Taurasi, who led Connecticut to its third straight NCAA championship Tuesday night. Taurasi was the AP player of the year last season.
Other finalists for the Wooden Award were Penn State's Kelly Mazzante, Stanford's Nicole Powell and Purdue's Shereka Wright. All attended Friday's ceremony except Taurasi.
A panel of more than 200 media and college basketball experts submitted their votes by March 29.
Beard collected 519 points to 456 for Taurasi, 215 for Mazzante, 169 for Powell, and 97 for Wright.
The award is named for the former UCLA men's coach, who led the Bruins to 10 national titles in a span of 12 years before retiring in 1975. The 93-year-old Wooden attended the ceremony.
The 28th annual Wooden Award for men will be presented Saturday at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
