WBB’s Egbo Named as Finalist for the Leslie Award
2/5/2021 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Junior among 10 players for nation’s top center
WACO, Texas – Baylor's Queen Egbo earned a spot as a finalist Friday for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Lisa Leslie Award. The honor recognizes the top center in women's college basketball.
Egbo, from Houston, Texas, was the 2020 Big 12 Sixth Woman of the Year, and she was a preseason All-Big 12 selection coming into her third season.
She ranks 10th in the Big 12 in rebounds per game (7.2), 4th in offensive rebounds (3.1), and seventh in blocks per contest (1.2). Egbo averages 10.9 points in just 19.9 minutes per contest and leads the No. 8-ranked Lady Bears in field goal percentage at a .504 clip. Egbo ranks 9th all-time on Baylor's career field-goal percentage list at .534.
The Leslie Award will be narrowed to five candidates in March before the winner is announced April 9 as a part of the other "Starting Five" awards. DiDi Richards was named as a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award Monday for nation's top point guard and NaLyssa Smith was selected Thursday for the Katrina McClain Award finalist list for power forwards.
Egbo was a finalist last season for the Leslie Award, and she is the second Lady Bear to be selected as a finalist with Kalani Brown reaching the Final Five list in 2018 and 2019.
2021 Lisa Leslie Award Candidates*
*Players can play their way onto and off of the list at any point in the 2020-21 season
Egbo, from Houston, Texas, was the 2020 Big 12 Sixth Woman of the Year, and she was a preseason All-Big 12 selection coming into her third season.
She ranks 10th in the Big 12 in rebounds per game (7.2), 4th in offensive rebounds (3.1), and seventh in blocks per contest (1.2). Egbo averages 10.9 points in just 19.9 minutes per contest and leads the No. 8-ranked Lady Bears in field goal percentage at a .504 clip. Egbo ranks 9th all-time on Baylor's career field-goal percentage list at .534.
The Leslie Award will be narrowed to five candidates in March before the winner is announced April 9 as a part of the other "Starting Five" awards. DiDi Richards was named as a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award Monday for nation's top point guard and NaLyssa Smith was selected Thursday for the Katrina McClain Award finalist list for power forwards.
Egbo was a finalist last season for the Leslie Award, and she is the second Lady Bear to be selected as a finalist with Kalani Brown reaching the Final Five list in 2018 and 2019.
2021 Lisa Leslie Award Candidates*
| Queen Egbo | Baylor |
| Olivia Nelson-Ododa | Connecticut |
| Ayoka Lee | Kansas State |
| Elissa Cunane | NC State |
| Janelle Bailey | North Carolina |
| Shakira Austin | Ole Miss |
| Nancy Mulkey | Rice |
| Aliyah Boston | South Carolina |
| Kamilla Cardoso | Syracuse |
| Charli Collier | Texas |
*Players can play their way onto and off of the list at any point in the 2020-21 season
Players Mentioned
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