Mitchell happy just being nominated
Watch any college women’s basketball on television, and you can’t help but be amazed with the likes of North Carolina’s Ivory Latta, Rutgers’ Cappie Pondexter, Duke’s Lindsey Harding, Tennessee’s Alexis Hornbuckle or UCLA’s Nikki Blue.
Add Idaho’s Leilani Mitchell to that list of point guards.
Mitchell, and the aforementioned stars are among the 11 finalists for the seventh annual Nancy Lieberman Award for the nation’s top point guard.
“It’s exciting,” Mitchell said before practice on Monday. “It’s an honor, obviously. I never expected anything like this. No way it could have happened without my teammates.”
Mitchell, a junior who has started every game of her career after graduating from Kennewick, is averaging 17.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.0 steals, which is third in the nation, but has trouble picturing herself in such elite company.
“Some of those girls, I think they’re amazing,” she said. “I don’t think I’m as good as them. It’s an honor to even be mentioned with them. It’s kind of weird, actually, to think I’m on the list with those other girls.”
The other finalists are Lindsay Bowen of Michigan State, Dee Davis of Vanderbilt, Megan Duffy of Notre Dame, Erin Grant of Texas Tech and Carolyn Kieger of Marquette.
The award, sponsored by the Detroit Rotary Club, is based on floor leadership, playmaking and ball-handling skills “that personified Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman during her career.”
Mitchell is the only player whose team does not have a winning record. The Vandals are 8-13 overall, 4-6 in their first season in the Western Athletic Conference.
“The overall athleticism of the girls in this league is just tremendous,” Mitchell said. “From scouting we didn’t know what to expect. We knew it was going to be good but I think it’s a little bit better than we expected. … Overall, the WAC from top to bottom is a lot better (than the Big West).”
Injuries have also hampered the Vandals. Seven players have played in all 21 games, each averaging more than 19 minutes. No other player sees significant time.
Senior night
It’s Home Sweet Home for three of the area teams and Senior Night is on tap for two.
Washington State closes its home schedule against Oregon State and Oregon, recognizing seniors Charmaine Jones, Crystal Blue and Keisha Moore on Saturday afternoon.
Gonzaga has four seniors, Juliann Laney, Ashley Anderson, Anne Bailey and Katie Pritchard. Though the Bulldogs have at least one more home game because the West Coast Conference Tournament is in Spokane, the seniors get their moment Saturday night. First the Bulldogs face Loyola Marymount, tied with Santa Clara for the league lead – one game in front of GU.
Tip-ins
Bailey, out since the start of conference play, returned to action Saturday when Gonzaga played at Portland. The senior forward had two points and two rebounds in 14 minutes. … The Bulldogs are still without freshman Sasha Polischuck, the only true point guard, who has missed the last four games with a stress fracture in her right foot. … Dominique Harris, part of the Zags’ point-guard-by-committee, missed the UP game with a sore foot. … WSU lost sophomore walk-on Brynn Bemis for the season when she sustained a left ankle injury at practice Jan. 31. … Cougar Kate Benz has 648 career boards, which is sixth in school history. The all-time WSU leader is Cassandra Overby, who pulled down 875 rebounds from 1981-84. … Benz, the defending Pac-10 rebounding champion, leads the conference in rebounds (9.0) this season. … UI has had seven different starters this season with three players starting every game. GU has used the most starters, 11, with only Stephanie Hawk starting every game. EWU and WSU have used 10 starters each, but Benz is the only player to start every game between the two teams.