April 1, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford's Jayne Appel and Nnemkadi Ogwumike were honored this week with selections to three All-America Teams. The duo was named to the All-America teams of the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the John R. Wooden Award, and claimed spots on the Associated Press All-America Second Team.
The selection to the AP second team marks the second straight year Appel has been tabbed, while this year's announcement is the first for Ogwumike.
Ogwumike posted a breakout year as a sophomore in 2009-10, leading the Pac-10 with 18.2 points per game and a 61.1-percent shooting mark from the field. Her 9.6 rebounds were also second-best in conference play, just missing out on the conference "triple crown."
Those numbers led to Ogwumike being named Pac-10 Player of the Year for the first time in her career as well as a conference-leading three Pac-10 Player of the Week selections.
Through the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Ogwumike is averaging a double-double, leading the Cardinal with 17.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Out of seven total postseason games including the Pac-10 Tournament, Ogwumike has posted six double-doubles, just missing out on seven when she grabbed nine rebounds against Iowa on March 22. She was also named MVP of both the Pac-10 Tournament and the Sacramento Regional.
Appel, the team's senior center and returning State Farm Coaches' All-American, earned All-Pac-10 honors for the third straight year in 2009-10 after posting 13.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while battling injuries all season. After a summertime surgery on her left knee, Appel battled some of the nation's best in the paint during a brutal non-conference schedule that featured seven 2010 NCAA Tournament teams. In March, Appel suffered a low ankle sprain that forced her to miss a game and has bothered her throughout the NCAA Tournament.
But that injury has not stopped her from earning a spot on the Pac-10 All-Tournament team as well as the Sacramento All-Regional Team. During the NCAA Tournament, Appel is averaging 12.0 points and 4.5 rebounds over just 20.0 minutes per game, and is shooting a team-leading 54.1 percent from the field.
Both Appel and Ogwumike are finalists for the John R. Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy Player of the Year Award.
Stanford continues NCAA Tournament play this weekend at the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. The Cardinal will take on Kansas City Regional champion the Oklahoma Sooners Sunday, April 4 at 4 p.m. PT from the Alamodome. The contest will be televised on ESPN and online on ESPN360.