March 27, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second straight season, University of Kentucky women’s basketball standout A’dia Mathies has been named one of 12 finalists for The State Farm Wade Trophy, as announced by The State Farm Wade Trophy Committee, along with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. The award is presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding NCAA Division I women’s basketball player.
Mathies, the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, is leading UK to one of its most successful seasons in school history. The Wildcats, ranked seventh nationally, have won a school-record 29 games and have advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a school-record fourth consecutive season, including their third appearance in the Sweet 16 in the last four years.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard leads the Wildcats in scoring (16.1 points per game), 3-point field goals made (70) and 3-point field goal percentage (.427). She also ranks second on the team in steals (64) and assists (77). The Louisville, Ky., native is coming off an impressive performance vs. Dayton in the second round as she netted a career-high tying 34 points, her third career 30-point game. Mathies’ six 3-pointers also were a career high and she added three rebounds, three steals and two assists in the win.
In addition to being named the SEC Player of the Year by the The Associated Press and the SEC Co-Player of the Year by the coaches, Mathies also was named to the All-SEC first team (coaches and AP), and the SEC All-Tournament team.
The candidates were selected by a vote of committee members consisting of leading basketball coaches, journalists and administrators. The committee will select the winner of The State Farm Wade Trophy from among these 12 finalists who also are named to the 10-member WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ All-America Team when it is chosen in April. The winner will be announced during the WBCA Awards Show, which will be held at 5 p.m. CT Monday, April 8, in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center’s New Orleans Theatre. The event is part of the WBCA National Convention and is held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women’s Final Four®.
The State Farm Wade Trophy, now in its 36th year, is named after the late, legendary three-time national champion Delta State University coach, Lily Margaret Wade. This most prestigious award, regarded as “The Heisman of Women’s Basketball”, debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women’s national player of the year award in college basketball.
Last year, Baylor’s Brittney Griner received the prestigious award. Connecticut’s Maya Moore was the first student-athlete to win the award three consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011). The first recipient of the Wade Trophy was Carol Blazejowski of Montclair State in 1978. Other Wade Trophy/NCAA Division I Player of the Year recipients include many WNBA standouts such as Teresa Weatherspoon (1988), DeLisha Milton-Jones (1997), Candace Parker (2007), Ticha Penicheiro (1998), Sue Bird (2002) and Diana Taurasi (2003).
UK Hoops will meet Delaware on Saturday, March 30 at noon ET in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be televised on ESPN with Doris Burke, Beth Mowins and Holly Rowe calling the action and also carried live on the UK IMG Sports Network with Neil Price.
