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Pili Named to USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Midseason Watch List
1/11/2023 4:37 PM | Women's Basketball
Utah junior leads team in scoring and ranks in nation’s top 25 in scoring and field goal percentage
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah junior forward Alissa Pili was named today to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Midseason Watch List. Pili is listed among 21 of the most outstanding women's college basketball players.
Pili is one of four players from Pac-12 schools on the list, joined by Stanford's Cameron Brink and Haley Jones, and UCLA's Charisma Osborne. The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the women's national player of the year by the USBWA. It is Pili's second midseason watch list recognition, after being named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 a week ago.
Pili is the leading scorer for the Utes, who rank 10th in this week's AP poll and eighth in the USA Today Coaches Poll, at 14-1 on the season. Pili is the third-leading scorer in the Pac-12, at 19.3 points per game, and ranks 24th nationally. Her shooting percentage of 62.8-percent leads the Pac-12 and ranks 10th nationally.
The junior from Anchorage, Alaska (Dimond High School) had a streak of scoring 20 or more points in four consecutive games in December, and has seven total on the season. She scored 25 or more points in three consecutive games (28, 28, 25) from Dec. 1-14, the first Ute to do so since 2009-10. Her back-to-back 28-point games in early December were the first consecutive games of 28 or more points by a Utah player since 2014, and she was the first Ute to do so in two road games since at least 1999-2000.
Earlier this season Pili topped the 1,000-career-point mark, bringing 795 points from USC (2019-22) before her transfer to Utah prior to the 2022-23 season.
Utah takes on No. 14/10 Arizona on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 12 p.m., at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes are the nation's fourth-highest-scoring team, averaging 87.3 points per game, and rank second in field-goal percentage (50.2), third in scoring margin (+27.9) and fourth in assists (19.5). Tickets are available online at UtahTickets.com or by phone at 801-581-8849.
Named for the legendary UCLA guard, this award was first presented in the 1987-88 season and formally named in Meyers Drysdale's honor in the 2011-12 season. Ann Meyers Drysdale played at UCLA from 1974-78, which pre-dates the USBWA All-America selections. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Pili is one of four players from Pac-12 schools on the list, joined by Stanford's Cameron Brink and Haley Jones, and UCLA's Charisma Osborne. The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the women's national player of the year by the USBWA. It is Pili's second midseason watch list recognition, after being named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 a week ago.
Pili is the leading scorer for the Utes, who rank 10th in this week's AP poll and eighth in the USA Today Coaches Poll, at 14-1 on the season. Pili is the third-leading scorer in the Pac-12, at 19.3 points per game, and ranks 24th nationally. Her shooting percentage of 62.8-percent leads the Pac-12 and ranks 10th nationally.
The junior from Anchorage, Alaska (Dimond High School) had a streak of scoring 20 or more points in four consecutive games in December, and has seven total on the season. She scored 25 or more points in three consecutive games (28, 28, 25) from Dec. 1-14, the first Ute to do so since 2009-10. Her back-to-back 28-point games in early December were the first consecutive games of 28 or more points by a Utah player since 2014, and she was the first Ute to do so in two road games since at least 1999-2000.
Earlier this season Pili topped the 1,000-career-point mark, bringing 795 points from USC (2019-22) before her transfer to Utah prior to the 2022-23 season.
Utah takes on No. 14/10 Arizona on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 12 p.m., at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes are the nation's fourth-highest-scoring team, averaging 87.3 points per game, and rank second in field-goal percentage (50.2), third in scoring margin (+27.9) and fourth in assists (19.5). Tickets are available online at UtahTickets.com or by phone at 801-581-8849.
Named for the legendary UCLA guard, this award was first presented in the 1987-88 season and formally named in Meyers Drysdale's honor in the 2011-12 season. Ann Meyers Drysdale played at UCLA from 1974-78, which pre-dates the USBWA All-America selections. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
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