Feb. 26, 2013

USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Midseason Top 20 List

STANFORD, Calif. - Junior forward Chiney Ogwumike was one of 20 players named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's 2013 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Top 20 Midseason Watch List Tuesday.

The Cypress, Texas native is one of nine juniors on the list and one of two Pac-12 players along with California's Gennifer Brandon.

Ogwumike, a consensus national player of the year contender, is the only player to rank in the national top five in scoring (22.7 ppg - third), rebounding (12.7 rpg - fifth), field-goal percentage (58.2 - fourth) and double-doubles (22 - second) in the NCAA's latest national stat rankings (Feb. 25).

On a national scale, Ogwumike's performances against Top-25 teams this season have been extraordinary. In 10 matchups with ranked teams, Ogwumike has averaged 21.3 points and 11.3 rebounds a game and shot 53.5 percent from the field as Stanford has gone 8-2 including 6-0 away from home.

Her play in 2012-13 has carried Stanford to its first No. 1 ranking since March 2005, a spot the Cardinal would hold for six weeks. Currently, the Cardinal is ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Poll with an overall record of 26-2 and tied atop the Pac-12 table at 17-1 with No. 6 California.

This season she has earned one national player of the week nod from both the USBWA (Jan. 28) and espnW (Nov. 19), earning espnW's first nod after scoring 18 points, including the eventual game-winning bucket with less than a minute remaining, with eight rebounds in Stanford's 71-69 win over then-No. 1/1 Baylor on Nov. 16 at the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu. Ogwumike would go on to be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as the Cardinal captured the tournament crown.

Ogwumike is also on pace to capture the Pac-12's Triple Crown, leading the loop in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage in addition to double-doubles. Through Feb. 25 she has been named Pac-12 Player of the Week a record-tying five times and her eight career honors leave her one behind former Stanford standouts Candice Wiggins (2004-08) and Jayne Appel (2006-10).

This past Sunday, Ogwumike made yet another compelling case for national player of the year honors as she scored 27 points with a Stanford single-game record 24 rebounds in the Cardinal's 74-50 win over Oregon. While her 24 rebounds eclipsed older sister Nnemkadi Ogwumike's mark of 23 set against the Ducks on Jan. 23, 2010, combined with the 27 points scored it was Chiney's 52nd-career double-double, passing Nnemkadi as Stanford's career leader. Chiney also become just the sixth Stanford player to grab 1,000 rebounds and join the 1,000-1,000 Club for points and rebounds.

Stanford travels to Washington and Washington State this weekend to close out the Pac-12 regular season. Both games will be televised nationally on Pac-12 Network, beginning with Thursday's 7 p.m. PT tip at Washington and concluding with Sunday's noon PT tip at Washington State.