Six Huskies on Naismith list

Six players from the topranked UConn women's basketball are among 50 players on the watch list for the Naismith Trophy.

Napheesa Collier, a 6-foot-1 junior forward and the American Athletic Conference's preseason player of the year, is averaging 14 points, 7.3 rebounds and is second on the 6-0 Huskies with 20 assists, 18 steals and eight blocked shots.

Crystal Dangerfield, a 5-foot-5 sophomore guard, is averaging 14 points and 2 steals while registering a team-best 31 assists (with just 10 turnovers).

Kia Nurse, a 6-foot senior guard, had 27 points in Tuesday night's win over Nevada as she was 8 for 8 from 3-point range. She is averaging 16.2 points with 19 assists. She leads UConn with 17 3-pointers and is ninth among Division I players with a 58.6 3-point shooting percentage.

Katie Lou Samuelson has missed that last 4 1/2 games with a left foot injury but the 6-foot-3 junior wing's scoring average of 16.5 is tops on the Huskies.

She also had five rebounds, three assists and four steals at the time of her injury.

Azura' Stevens, a 6-foot-6 junior forward/center, leads UConn with an average of 9.5 rebounds and with 10 blocked shots. She is averaging 14.2 points per game with 20 assists and eight steals.

Gabby Williams a 5-foot-11 senior forward, is averaging 12.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She leads the team with 19 steals and a field-goal percentage of 59.3 and also has 19 assists.

The list of candidates will be cut to 30 in February.