Mulkey Named To Lisa Leslie Award Watch List

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Washington senior Nancy Mulkey is among 20 players announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to the watch list for the 2022 Lisa Leslie Award.
 
Named after the three-time All-American, 1994 National Player of the Year and Class of 2015 Hall of Famer, the annual award recognizes the top centers in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.
 
College basketball fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2022 Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Ms. Leslie and the Hall of Fame's selection committee where a winner will be selected.
 
The winner of the 2022 Lisa Leslie Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award and the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award, in addition to the Men's Starting Five.
 
Mulkey enters the year with 108 games played and has recorded 1,160 points, 447 rebounds, 105 assists and 328 blocks while shooting .547 from the field in three years at Rice and one season at Oklahoma.
 
The 6-foot-9 center played in 27 games in 2021 for Rice, averaging 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. She was named MVP after helping the Owls to their first-ever WNIT title and was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year for the third time.
 
The Cypress, Texas, native was a semifinalist for the Lisa Leslie Award in 2021, along with being named a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Senior CLASS Award Second Team and to the watch list for the Becky Hammon Award.