LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Senior Stella Johnson (Denville, NJ/Morris Catholic) of the Rider University women's basketball team was named one of 20 watch-list candidates for the 2020 Nancy Lieberman Award as announced by The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) on Monday afternoon.
Now in its twenty first year, the award recognizes the top point guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. To be considered to this prestigious award, candidates exhibit the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman.
The Selection Committee for the Nancy Lieberman Award is composed of top women's college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers. New to the award this season is Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies in each of the three rounds. By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2020 Lieberman Award will be narrowed to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. Lieberman and the Hall of Fame's selection committee.
As a junior, Stella was tabbed as the MAAC Player of the Year and she was a unanimous selection to the All-MAAC First Team. In 2018-19, she was also named to the MAAC All-Championship for the second year in a row. She led the MAAC in scoring (18.8 PPG) and steals (2.5 SPG) a year ago. Stella recorded her 1,000th career point in December of last season at Binghamton and she's currently tied with Katie Hall'05 for sixth in program history with 1,422 career points.
"Stella has done everything we've asked her to do and more," Rider Head Coach
Lynn Milligan said. "She's a driven young lady and disciplined in how she develops her game. Every year she has gotten better at a weakness and this year will be no different. Stella's number one goal is to leave Rider with a championship and she's willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens."
The winner of the 2020 Lieberman Award will be presented at The College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in Los Angeles, CA on Friday, April 10, 2020, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, in addition to the Men's Starting Five.
Previous winners of the Nancy Lieberman Award include Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon (2018-19), Kelsey Plum, Washington (2017), Moriah Jefferson, Connecticut (2015-16), Odyssey Sims, Baylor (2014), Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame (2012-13), Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga (2011), Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State (2010), Renee Montgomery, Connecticut (2009), Kristi Toliver, Maryland (2008), Lindsey Harding, Duke (2007), Ivory Latta, North Carolina (2006), Temeka Johnson, LSU (2005), Diana Taurasi, Connecticut (2003-04), and Sue Bird, Connecticut (2000-02).
For more information on the 2020 Nancy Lieberman Award and the latest updates, log onto
http://www.hoophallawards.com/ and follow @hoophall and #LiebermanAward on Twitter and Instagram. Starting Five Fan Voting presented by Dell Technologies will go live on Friday, October 25. The link for fan voting can be found
here.