Dangerfield Named To Watch List

Considered Among Best Point Guards

UConn point guard Crystal Dangerfield has been named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List.

On Monday, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced the 20 top candidates for the award, which is given to the top point guard in the nation playing Division I women’s basketball. The award is in its 20th year.

If Dangerfield wins, she would join four UConn alumna who have combined to win the award seven times: Sue Bird (2000, 2001), Diana Taurasi (2003, 2004), Renee Montgomery (2009) and Moriah Jefferson (2015, 2016).

The junior point guard has shown steady improvement since arriving at UConn, and last year averaged 9.5 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while ranking second on the team with 142 assists. She was a member of the AAC Third Team last season and the conference’s All-Tournament team. At AAC media day last week, Dangerfield was named preseason AAC First Team.

Dangerfield will find out if she’s a finalist for the award in February when the candidates are cut to 10, and then in March, five finalists will be sent to the selection committee. The winner will be announced in April in Tampa, Fla., where various awards will be announced during the Final Four and WBCA Convention. The winner will be chosen by the selection committee, which is made up of “top women’s college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.”