Nicole Cardaño-Hillary among 2020 Nancy Lieberman Award watch list

Junior guard named to watch list coming off her A-10 Player of the year season

On Monday the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced their 2020 Nancy Lieberman Award watch list, and on it was George Mason junior Nicole Cardaño-Hillary.

More from Atlantic 10

• Atlantic 10 tournament’s first round sets up exciting rematches
• Five things to look out for at the Atlantic 10 tournament
• How the George Washington players wrote the script for a big rivalry win
• A wild weekend in the Atlantic 10 conference
• National Girls and Women in Sports Day means a little more at Mason

In her first year, Cardaño-Hillary averaged 17.8 points and 2.5 steals in 32.7 minutes per game. She set the single-season freshman scoring record with 605 points and led the Atlantic 10 in steals.

She was named the A-10 Rookie of the Year and was named to A-10 All-Conference Third Team, All-Defensive Team and All-Rookie Team.

As a sophomore she led the league in scoring and steals, averaging 20.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 2.2 steals in 35.7 minutes per game. Cardaño-Hillary was also named A-10 Player of the Year and was named to the A-10 All-Conference First Team.

Some of her greatest successes have come under pressure. Cardaño-Hillary scored 37 points against George Washington to lead her team to victory against George Washington for the first sweep of the Colonials since joining the Atlantic 10.

Less than three weeks later she hit a buzzer-beating three to upset Dayton, a shot that was later listed at No. 3 in the Sportscenter Top 10.

She hit an equally impressive half court shot last Friday during Mason’s basketball season kickoff.

Cardaño-Hillary currently ranks 14th on Mason’s all-time scoring with 1,218 points and is 13th in career steals (149). She sits at 12th in three-point field goals made (111) and 18th in assists (197).

Despite setting the bar so high for herself every year, she continues to surpass it. She may not be able to score as many points this season due to the team’s increased depth, but Cardaño-Hillary will likely continue dishing out assists and being a dominant force on the defensive end of the floor.

Cardaño-Hillary graduated from Vista Ridge High School two years after UCLA guard Japreece Dean, who was also named to the watch list.

Below is the full watchlist.

Love our 24/7 women’s basketball coverage? Join our Patreon now and support this work, while getting extra goodies and subscriber-only content for yourself.