For starters, there were some indicators this week that a certain Alana
Beard is a pretty good player and some folks wanted her to know that.
First off is the ACC, who named her Player of the Week for the sixteenth time. AB was also
tabbed as one of 21 finalists for the prestigious Wade Trophy, women college basketball's oldest and
greatest honor. Alana and Iciss Tillis both made the cut of 20 for the
newer (for women) Naismith Award. Folks,
I'm not kidding when I said Alana was playing the best ball of her in her
career, and it's hard to imagine that she only has 2 more regular season
home games left.
I did want to mention once again that Lindsey Harding was nominated for
the N***y L*******n Point Guard of the Year award, though a few players on the
list aren't actually point guards. Still, Lindsey has done a fine job
running the team, with a league-best 2.06:1 assist/turnover ratio.
Finally, let's give it up for the men behind the scenes: the practice
players. The N&O has a couple of articles on them that an interested
party made us aware of: the first on the women's team
getting tougher and the other a quick look at the guys who
help make it happen.