2023 Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Preseason Watch List Czinano/Markowski Named

Czinano Named to Lisa Leslie Watch List

Credit Source: University of Iowa Athletics

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa fifth-year Monika Czinano has been named to the 2023 Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Preseason Watch List, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Friday. Czinano was a semifinalist for the award in 2022.

 

The list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the sixth annual Lisa Leslie Award that recognizes the best center in women’s basketball.

 

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, Oct. 21. In late January, the list of 20 players will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Leslie and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.

 

Previous winners of the Lisa Leslie Award are Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (2020-22), Megan Gustafson, Iowa (2019) and A’ja Wilson, South Carolina (2018).

 

Czinano returns to the Hawkeyes after leading the nation in field-goal percentage (.679), ranking sixth in field goals made (277), 11th in total points (656) and 12th in points per contest (21.2). A season ago, she earned All-Big Ten accolades, and was an Associated Press and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-America honorable mention. For the second time in her career, she was named to both of the Big Ten preseason all-conference teams.

 

Tickets to see Czinano and the fourth ranked Hawkeyes are available by calling the ticket office at 1-800-IA-HAWKS or online at hawkeyesports.com/tickets.

Markowski Named to Lisa Leslie Award Watch List

Nebraska center Alexis Markowski was honored Friday as one of 20 candidates nationally on the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award Watch List.

The Lisa Leslie Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), honors the nation’s top center in NCAA Division I women’s basketball. It is named after three-time All-American and 1994 National Player of the Year Lisa Leslie, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Markowski made an instant impact in her first season at Nebraska in 2021-22. The 6-2 center out of Lincoln Pius X High School was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors after averaging 12.8 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds. Markowski, who came off the bench early in the season before taking over a starting role, was an eight-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and the USBWA National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 11, 2022).

Nebraska’s Offensive MVP last season, Markowski was a Preseason First-Team All-Big Ten selection prior to the start of the 2022-23 campaign. She helped the Huskers to a 24-9 overall record and a trip to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals a year ago, after averaging team bests of 15.6 points and 8.6 rebounds in Big Ten Conference play. She also hit 54 percent of her shots from the field, including 53.6 percent of her three-point attempts, during league action in 2021-22.

The Lisa Leslie Award Watch List features several Big Ten posts, including Iowa’s Monika Czinano and Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes. Markowski is also scheduled to go head-to-head against Leslie Award Watch List members Jessika Carter from Mississippi State and Elizabeth Kitley from Virginia Tech during the 2022-23 regular season.

A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates for the Lisa Leslie Award.

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting Friday, Oct. 21. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award will be narrowed to 10, and in late February a final list of five candidates will be selected. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Leslie and the Hall of Fame selection committee with a winner being selected.

The winner of the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award will be presented on a date yet to be determined, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale (Shooting Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward) and Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward).

Previous winners of the Lisa Leslie Award are Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (2020-22), Megan Gustafson, Iowa (2019) and A’ja Wilson, South Carolina (2018).

For more information on the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #LeslieAward on Twitter and Instagram.

2023 Lisa Leslie Award Watch List
Francesca Belibi, Stanford
Lauren Betts, Stanford
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Kennedy Brown, Duke
Jessika Carter, Mississippi State
Lucy Cochrane, Portland
Monika Czinano, Iowa
Lauren Ebo, Notre Dame
Emma Grothaus, Washington
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Taylor Jones, Texas
Dorka Juhasz, UConn
Tamari Key, Tennessee
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech
Ila Lane, UC Santa Barbara
Alexis Markowski, Nebraska
Bella Murekatete, Washington State
Quay Miller, Colorado
Sedona Prince, Oregon
Josie Williams, Louisville

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply