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Vanderbilt’s Benningfield Named to Wooden Women’s Award Preseason All-America Team 8-13-03 8/13/2003 Vanderbilt rising senior Jenni Benningfield is one of 30 selectees to the inaugural Wooden Women’s Award Preseason All-America Team announced Wednesday, Aug. 13. Benningfield, a forward from Louisville, Ky. (Assumption High School), is coming off her best season as a Commodore, have garnered Honorable Mention All-America status from the Associated Press and All-Southeastern Conference honors from the league coaches and the Associated Press. Benningfield ranked second on the team and fifth in the SEC, averaging 16.5 points a contest while finishing sixth in the conference with a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game. She also ranked fifth in the SEC, shooting 55.6 percent from the field. Benningfield enters her final collegiate campaign ranked 20th on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list with 1,068 points. On August 9, Benningfield helped lead the USA Pan American Games team to a silver-medal finish in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She started all seven games for the squad, averaging 9.1 points and 3.9 rebounds. Benningfield and the other 29 honorees were named to the list based on last year’s individual performance and team records. Only returning players are eligible for the Preseason Team, although transfers and freshmen as well as other players who excel throughout the season, will be evaluated and considered for the Midseason Top 20 List and the National Ballot. Eight NCAA conferences are represented, including the SEC (7 players), Big 12 (6 players), Big East (5 players), Pac 10 (4 players), Big 10, (4 players), ACC (2 players), Conference USA (1 player), and Big West (1 player). In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the Midseason Top 20 List, followed in March by the official voting ballot, consisting of the top 10-15 players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Over 250 voters, comprised of sports media members and women’s college basketball experts across the nation, will then cast their votes for the five-member All-American team and Wooden Award honor as the most outstanding female collegiate basketball player in the United States. |
