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Three SEC Women's Basketball Players Named Finalists

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Allison Hightower - LSU

PPG 16.5

RPG 2.9

APG 2.3

Classroom

Hightower has been a leader in the classroom since she arrived at LSU. She has maintained a 3.0 grade point average throughout her career. In 2009, she was one of two Lady Tigers who were named to the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll. In October 2006, Hightower was one of five student-athletes at the school who were recognized by the LSU Cox Communications Academic Center For Student-Athletes for outstanding classroom and community service work. Hightower is majoring in general studies at LSU with concentrations in communication studies, sports studies and African-American studies. She is on schedule to graduate this spring.

Character

Hightower’s leadership role stretches beyond the playing floor. She has always held herself to high standards and been a leader for the Lady Tigers in everything they do from the weight room to other activities. She was a team captain in 2008-09 and she was recently voted by the coaching staff as a team captain for the 2009-10 season. Said LSU head coach Van Chancellor, "She’s a leader on and off the floor and the face of our team." Said LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey as quoted in the Baton Rouge Advocate, "In all of my 30 years of coaching men and women, she’s the hardest working player I have ever been around – male or female." Hightower represents the women’s basketball team on the LSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Community

Hightower has been a fan favorite in the Baton Rouge community for some time. In the summer of 2009, she led a free basketball clinic at the Baton Rouge Recreational Department’s Sports Academy that taught children fundamentals of the game and then signed autographs. Since the spring of 2009, Hightower and the Lady Tigers have joined former LSU star and 2009 WNBA champion Temeka Johnson and her H.O.P.E. Foundation in speaking to schools around the Baton Rouge area about the importance of getting an education. The group also donated shoes to deserving children at Magnolia Woods Elementary School. This season, LSU and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System announced a collaboration between basketball and education. Hightower will be making several speaking appearances as part of the program. As quoted from a press release in July 2009, Hightower said, "We have so many people and kids who look up to us. When they see us out there doing positive things, hopefully that inspires them to do whatever they want to do in life. It is just a good feeling to give back to the community whether it is serving food or teaching the game of basketball."

Competition

A 2010 National Player of the Year candidate, Hightower is on watch lists for the Wade Trophy and John Wooden Award.  She was chosen as a 2009 State Farm Honorable Mention All-American and 2009 first-team All-SEC performer after leading the Lady Tigers in six categories as a junior, including 14.9 points per game. She led all SEC guards in blocked shots and was the only guard in the league to rank in the top 11 in both blocks and steals en route to SEC All-Defensive Team honors. As a sophomore, she was chosen as the SEC Sixth Woman of the Year. In 2009, Hightower became the first player in school history to lead the Lady Tigers in points, assists, steals and blocks in a single season and the first since All-American Marie Ferdinand (1999) to lead LSU in points, assists and steals in a single season. She averaged 23.5 points and 4.0 assists in the NCAA Tournament to nearly lead LSU past eventual national championship game participant Louisville in the second round. Hightower ranked fifth in the SEC in points per game, fifth in field goal percentage and second in minutes played as a junior. She stands at 943 career points, just 57 shy of 1,000. Her 76 blocks for her career is an LSU record for guards.

Ashley Houts - Georgia

PPG 12.1

RPG 3.2

APG 3.7

Classroom

Houts was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll following her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. To be recognized, a student-athlete must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher either cumulative or for either the previous academic year.

Character

The undisputed leader of the Lady Bulldogs since her freshman season, Houts has led Georgia in minutes played since her freshman year and has broken the school record for average minutes per game twice. One of the most polite and most respectful student-athletes on the UGA campus, "She’s a coach’s dream," said head coach Andy Landers.

Community

Houts helped the Lady Bulldog basketball’s efforts to obtain donated bicycles,  assemble the bikes and provide them to worthy children for Christmas both in 2007 and 2008. She volunteered at the Athens Boys and Girls Club, visited patients at Athens’ St. Mary’s Hospital, took part in "play date" with Clarke Central High School students, volunteered to assist the Special Olympics in her hometown of Trenton, Ga., spoke to children at elementary schools both in her hometown and in ?Athens, and visited families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. She was a "celebrity" guest for the dunking booth at the Barrow Elementary Spring Fling in Athens; she assisted with summer camps with youth programs in her hometown; she organized and orchestrated individual sessions for children in Ellijay, Ga., mentoring and working with them; she assisted former Lady Bulldog Lady Grooms with a basketball camp in the Atlanta area and volunteered to assist neighborhood children Grooms mentors; she spoke to a church youth group and shared testimony in Buford, Ga.; she volunteered and assisted with an open field day event for Athens-area children at the UGA Intramural Fields, and she visited with children of employees of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow while there as a member of the U.S. National Team competing in the U21 World Championships.

Competition

Houts is on the preseason watch lists for the Wooden Award and State Farm/Wade Trophy. She was named first-team pre-season All-SEC by the league’s media. She led Georgia in the following stats in 2008-09: scoring, assists, steals, free throw percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio and minutes per game. She averaged 8.3 points for the U.S. National Team that won the 2009 World University Games, her second international gold medal representing her country in the last three summers.

Bianca Thomas - Ole Miss

PPG 21.1

RPG 5.6

APG 1.4

Classroom

Thomas owns a cumulative grade point average of 3.16 in exercise science.  She has been named to the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll in each of the last two seasons.  Thomas was also named to the Ole Miss UMAA Honor Roll in each of her three previous seasons at Ole Miss.

Character

Thomas is an example of what type of character a student-athlete should have.  She always puts everyone before her and is always concerned about the well-being of others.  She was recently selected as team captain as voted on by her teammates.

Community

Thomas is very active in the Oxford community and has participated in several community service projects since arriving at Ole Miss.  She is a member of the Ole Miss Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which participates in several community service projects.  Thomas recently took part in the SAAC Canned Good Drive and helped collect canned goods outside of different locations around Oxford.  She also participated in the Rebel Reruns Shoe Project that annually provides shoes to underprivileged Kenyans.  In addition, Thomas took part in Reading with the Rebels where she read books to elementary students in the Oxford community.  In previous years, Thomas traveled to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to help rebuild a community still suffering from Hurricane Katrina.  Thomas also visited an Oxford retirement home and played bingo with some of the elderly residents.

Competition

Thomas proved to be one of the top players in the SEC last season, and she finished the year fourth in the conference after scoring 15.8 points per game en route to being selected to the All-SEC first team.  She enters her senior season as the SEC’s returning leading scorer.  She put together nine games in which she scored at least 20 points, including a career-high 31 points against Arkansas in the SEC Tournament.  Thomas also finished the season ranked third in the SEC in free throw percentage (82.5%) and sixth in three-point percentage (35.3%).  In fact, Thomas set a new single-season school record with 73 three-pointers made.  She also tied the school record for most treys in a game with the seven she hit at Mississippi State.  She enters her senior senior on pace to become the 23rd member of the Ole Miss 1,000 point club.