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Teaira McCowan, Kalani Brown among Lisa Leslie award finalists

By Caissa Casarez

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 01: Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs center Teaira McCowan (15) focuses on a pass in the National Championship game between the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on April 1, 2018 at Nationwide Arena. Notre Dame won 61-58. (Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 01: Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs center Teaira McCowan (15) focuses on a pass in the National Championship game between the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on April 1, 2018 at Nationwide Arena. Notre Dame won 61-58. (Photo by Adam Lacy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The best bigs are revealed.

Some of women’s college basketball’s finest have a tough task ahead of them as the postseason inches closer. Earlier this week, The Naismith Basketball Memorial Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced their list of the top 10 candidates for the Lisa Leslie Award. The second-ever award of its kind will be given to one of these centers:

Kalani Brown (Baylor)
Kristine Anigwe (California)
Channon Fluker (Cal State-Northridge)
Megan Gustafson (Iowa)
Beatrice Mompremier (Miami)
Hallie Thome (Michigan)
Teaira McCowan (Mississippi State)
Janelle Bailey (North Carolina)
Brianna Turner (Notre Dame)
Jordan Moore (TCU)

Seniors make up the majority of the 2019 centers on this list, including Brown, Thome, and Moore. Turner is back for Notre Dame as a graduate student after sitting out last year following her ACL tear at the 2017 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Bailey made the top 10 in just her second year of collegiate play; she led the ACC in offensive rebounds per game (3.6) in her freshman season and is putting up similar numbers thus far.

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Despite their differences in play and team records, every player on this list deserves a chance at the award. Fluker is the only representative from a non-Power 5 school on the list. According to HerHoopStats, the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Year leads her conference in all 3 rebound categories while averaging a double-double (15.8 ppg/11.4 rpg) a night.

My pick for the Lisa Leslie Award would have to go to center Teaira McCowan despite Mississippi State’s upset loss to Missouri on Thursday, where she recorded her 59th career double-double (12 pts/13 reb). McCowan currently leads the country in offensive rebounds (139). She finished last year with an SEC-record 544 boards, a mark good for the second-best in NCAA history. McCowan is already at 329 thus far, so I would not be surprised to see her break her own record – with a national title to boot.

The selection committee will cut the list in half next month when fans will be able to vote for their favorite. The Lisa Leslie Award will be handed out during the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa, Fla., in April.

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