March 20, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU women's basketball star
Sandora Irvin was named one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy presented by Cingular Wireless, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Sunday. LSU's Seimone Augustus, Duke's Monique Currie and Ohio State's Jessica Davenport were also selected to the final ballot. The winner will be recognized at the Naismith Awards Banquet April 8 in Atlanta.
This year, Cingular is making the selection process unique by giving college basketball fans an unprecedented voice in deciding who wins the Naismith Trophy. Fan voting, through the power and ease of wireless text messaging, will account for 25 percent of the Board of Selectors' final vote. Fans can text message "VOTE" to "26222" to receive the final ballot. Voting for the Naismith Trophy will end Saturday, April 2, at 8 p.m. CST.
Irvin was recently named to the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-America Team. She is the first player in TCU history to earn a spot on the squad after receiving honorable mention status from The Associated Press and Kodak/WBCA last year.
Irvin helped the Lady Frogs win their second Conference USA Tournament title in the past three years this season. She was selected to the All-Tournament Team for a third consecutive year and named Most Valuable Player for the second time in her career. Irvin took home the top honor in 2003 when she posted 26 points and 19 rebounds in the championship game that TCU won 85-76 over Cincinnati in overtime. In the 60-41 win against Louisville in 2005, she netted 21 points and pulled down nine boards.
Prior to the start of the C-USA Tournament, Irvin was selected as one of 11 members to the league's All-Decade Team. She also took home C-USA First Team praise for the second consecutive year and earned her first Player of the Year nod. Irvin snagged Defensive Player of the Year honors as well for the third year in a row.
Irvin has received numerous other honors this season, being named to the Miami Jam and Rainbow Wahine Classic All-Tournament Teams in November. She was also tabbed the MVP for the Wahine Classic after TCU upset then-No. 3 Georgia and then-No. 13/14 Michigan State to win the title. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is also one of three players in C-USA history to be named Player of the Week four times in one season.
Irvin was named the WBCA National Player of the Month for her December performance earlier in January. Irvin averaged 22.5 points, 13 rebounds, 3.6 blocks and 2.8 steals in TCU's eight games during the month. She tallied a career-high 32 points versus Oklahoma Dec. 9 in an 81-65 victory. Irvin scored at least 20 points in six of the eight contests and was in double digits in the rebounds category in all but two games as well.
Irvin finished the 2004-05 season averaging 19.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.5 blocked shots, 2.1 assists and 2.5 steals. She ranks 10th in the nation in scoring, second in rebounding and third in blocked shots. Her 150 blocks fell two shy of tying the NCAA's single-season record.
Some of Irvin's numbers this season have been of record-setting quality. She broke the NCAA single-game record for blocked shots with 16 versus UAB Jan. 16. The old record of 15 was held by Amy Lundquist from Loyola Marymount. Irvin also had the first triple-double in school history against UAB by adding 20 points and 18 rebounds.
The next record Irvin broke was the NCAA's career standard for blocked shots of 428, doing so versus Memphis Feb. 5. She needed just three going into the game and finished with eight. Her final career tally is 480 after TCU's first-round loss to Oregon in the 2005 NCAA Championship.
