Mühl named Nancy Lieberman Award finalist
Uconn women’s basketball junior Nika Mühl was named a top five finalist for the 2023 Nancy Lieberman Award on Monday.
The award is given annually to the best point guard in women’s college basketball.
The prestigious honor comes on the same day Mühl is set to break Uconn’s single season assist record, set by Sue Bird with 231 in 2001-02. Mühl currently sits in second place with 229 assists, three shy of passing the legendary point guard’s mark ahead of the last game of the regular season against Xavier.
“Now that I’m so close to beating her record, I respect [Sue Bird] so much more, because this is tough, man,” Mühl said on Saturday. “It depends on so [many] things, like she was such a great passer. So first of all, just huge respect for her.
“I mean, it means a lot. I really like this group of people, my teammates, and I feel like it means even more because it’s kind of like a team award. Assists, you have to pass but somebody has to make a basket. … I try not to think about it, but I hope it’s gonna happen in Gampel in front of our home crowd. That would be amazing. But just respect for Sue. I feel like this is a tough thing to do, it really is. I never understood how tough it is.”
Mühl is averaging 7.9 assists per game this season, which ranks second nationally. She’s dished out double-digits assists in nine games, the most of any Uconn player in program history. The previous mark for a single season was three. She’s also added 7.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 39.1% from 3-point range.
Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Oliva Miles (Notre Dame), Lauren Park-lane (Seton Hall) and Mckenna Hofschild (Colorado State) were also named finalists for the Lieberman Award.
A Husky has won the award nine times over the previous 23 years it’s been in existence: Sue Bird (2000, ‘01, ‘02), Diana Taurasi (2003, ‘04), Renee Montgomery (2009), Moriah Jefferson (2015, ‘16) and Paige Bueckers (2021).