STANFORD, Calif. – Senior forward Alanna Smith has been named to the 2018-19 Academic All-American Division I second team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Smith is the 10th academic All-American in program history, joining Brittany McPhee, Erica McCall, Chiney Ogwumike, Kristin Folkl, Kate Starbird, Chris MacMurdo, Julie Zeilstra, Jeanne Ruark Hoff and Louise Smith.
The 2019 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Smith is a psychology major with a 3.47 cumulative GPA and yesterday led Stanford to its 13th Pac-12 Tournament title with a 64-57 win over Oregon in Las Vegas. She was named the tournament's most outstanding player after posting double-doubles in each of the Cardinal's three wins and averaging 18.7 points and 12.3 rebounds.
In January, she created Stanford's first Human Trafficking Awareness game against Washington State after taking a class from Professor Katherine Jolluck on the issue last quarter and listening to a presentation from women's basketball public address announcer Betty Ann Hagenau, who is also the founder of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition.
Intensely interested in early childhood development, Smith also spent a quarter last year at the Bing Nursery School on campus as part of her PSYCH 147 class. A supervised experience with young children, Smith was active in the seminar on developmental issues in the teaching and learning environment at Bing, which is a program within the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford with a mission to promote understanding of child development and improve the lives of young children.
Smith is on every major women's basketball watch list, including the Katrina McClain Award, Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, Wade Trophy and Senior CLASS Award, and has backed up that recognition with her play. She is shooting 51.2 percent from the field, 39.5 percent from behind the arc and averaging a team-high 19.6 points per game to go with 8.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.
Smith, who averaged 20.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 18 Pac-12 games this season, was one of two players in the country to average 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in conference. She is also one of two nationally averaging 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game overall and is attempting to become just the fifth player in program history to average 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in a season, joining Chiney Ogwumike (2013-14 and 2012-13), Nneka Ogwumike (2011-12), Nicole Powell (2003-04) and Jeanne Ruark Hoff (1979-80 and 1978-79).
Smith is also tracking to join Elena Delle Donne as the only players 6-foot-4 and taller over the past 20 years to shoot better than 40 percent from 3-point range for an entire season. Delle Donne made 41.3 percent as a freshman at Delaware in 2009-10 (NCAA minimum of two made 3-pointers per game).
The 6-foot-4 Smith is 12th in school history in scoring (1,632) and second in blocks (223) and has made 147 career 3-pointers. She is within range of joining an elite company of players that have put together careers of 1,600 points, 150 made triples and 200 blocks. Since 1999-00, the only three to do that are Delle Donne (3,039 points; 206 3-pointers; 273 blocks), Maya Moore (3,036 points; 311 3-pointers; 204 blocks) and Breanna Stewart (2,676 points; 152 3-pointers; 414 blocks).
Smith, who has 73 triples and 76 blocks, is just the second NCAA women's basketball player to accumulate 70 3-pointers and 70 blocks in a season in the last 20 years (Whitney Knight – FGCU). Her 76 rejections this year are second in Stanford history behind Jayne Appel's 84 in 2007-08.