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A tight race ahead for the 2019 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award

By Carly Grenfell

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Asia Durr #25 of the Louisville Cardinals reacts after a missed shot to win the semifinal game of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. Mississippi St. defeated Louisville 73-63 to advance to the national championship. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Asia Durr #25 of the Louisville Cardinals reacts after a missed shot to win the semifinal game of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. Mississippi St. defeated Louisville 73-63 to advance to the national championship. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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Buckets, buckets and more buckets.

The 20-player watch list for the 2019 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award was recently announced, an award that recognizes the best shooting guard in the nation. The award is still in its infancy as Mississippi State’s Victoria Vivians was the inaugural winner in 2018.

The Associated Press 2017-18 All-American averaged 19.8 points per game last season. She became just the third player in MSU history to pour in over 2,000 career points, finishing with an electric 2,527 — 773 in her senior season alone. Equally impressive, Vivians shot an 80% clip from the charity stripe, 48% from the floor and 40% from the arc.

Some of Vivians’ best games were against big-time opponents like Notre Dame in the Women’s Final Four, Oregon, Missouri and Tennessee among others. Whether it was her game-winning jumper at Mizzou, near double-double at No. 6 Tennessee, or 30 points (on 10-15 shooting) at No. 9 Oregon, all things considered, she earned the award.

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Who on this year’s watch list will produce these types of numbers, with this level efficiency and, perhaps most importantly, at times when it matters most?

Will Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale shine brightest again (and again) on the biggest stage? Will Connecticut’s Katie Lou Samuelson get the Huskies back to their national championship-winning ways? Or what about Asia Durr — will her senior season be even better than last year? Another quadruple double for Shakyla Hill in 2019?

You definitely can’t rule out any of them, but my gut says it comes down to Samuelson and Durr. Heading into the 2018-19 campaign, Samuelson sits at 1,712 career points and Durr with 1,743. Although both are multi-dimensional scorers and any part of their game could be talked about here, there are a few statistics that especially jump out at you.

  • Samuelson: led the nation in three-point shooting percentage (47.5%)
  • Durr: made nine three-pointers in a game last year and finished with 47 points
  • Samuelson: scored double-digit points in 30 games last year
  • Durr:  has eight career 30-point games

Both are winners through and through. Both are pure scorers.

All 20 players in the running include Chloe Jackson (Baylor), Darby Maggard (Belmont), Katie Lou Samuelson (Connecticut), Candice White (Fresno State), Dionna White (Georgetown), Shakyla Hill (Grambling State), Mikayla Ferenz (Idaho), Maci Morris (Kentucky), Asia Durr (Louisville), Allazia Blockton (Marquette), Destiny Pitts (Minnesota), Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame), Teniya Page (Penn State), Jovana Nogic (Providence), Kitija Laksa (South Florida), Jessica Kovatch (St. Francis), Kiana Williams (Stanford), Kennedy Burke (UCLA), Aliyah Mazyck (USC) and Amber Melgoza (Washington).

The winner of the 2019 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award will be announced on ESPN during the 2019 Women’s Final Four in Tampa, Florida.

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