Per a press release this afternoon from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, George Mason’s own Nicole Cardaño-Hillary has been named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List! This award recognizes the top point guard in Women’s College Basketball, and is an extremely prestigious honor.
Only once in the previous 20-seasons that the award has been present has it been won by a player from a non-Power 5 conference school, going to Courtney Vandersloot of Gonzaga in 2010-2011 (with the exception of Notre Dame and UConn: The Irish were in the Big East at the time Skylar Diggins won, and UConn has spent time in both the Big East and the AAC when they have had award recipients). Seven different times has the Nancy Lieberman Award recipient also gone on to win the Naismith Player of the Year away, and features names such as Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Kristi Toliver, Skylar Diggins, Moriah Jefferson, Kelsey Plum, and most recently, Sabrina Ionescu who has won the award the previous two seasons.
Nikki won Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 2019, led the league in scoring with 20.4 points per game and steals with 65 total. She was also named to the A-10 All-Conference First Team in 2019.
Per the release, this is the list of candidates nominated preseason:
