UCLA Women's Basketball: 2 Bruins Now Finalists For National Player of the Year Award
Two of your UCLA Bruins have made the cut for the 2023-24 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which is awarded to the NCAA women's basketball player of the year and voted on by members of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Sophomore center Lauren Betts and graduate guard Charisma Osborne both made the cut for the list of the top 40 finalists that was released on Tuesday, according to UCLA Communications.
Betts leads the Bruins in rebounds (194 REB, 8.4 RPG), field goal percentage (.662), and blocks (49 BLK, 2.1 BPG) in her first season at UCLA. The sophomore center is also shooting at a team-best .662 FG%, which ranks second in the Pac-12.
Osborne is second on the team in scoring (14.5 ppg) trailing only Betts (15.1).
Earlier this season, Osborne (2,199 PTS, 805 REB) joined Sabrina Ionescu as just the second guard in Pac-12 Conference history to reach 2,000-plus points and 800-plus rebounds.
The Ann Meyers Drysdale Award is presented annually to the women's national player of the year by the USBWA. Named for the legendary UCLA guard, the 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.
Members will have until Sunday, March 10 to vote for all of the honors that are based on regular-season performance.