UCLA Women’s Basketball's Guard Duo Selected for Preseason Award Watch Lists

Charisma Osborne and Gina Conti were chosen for two of the five watch lists announced this week.

(Photo Courtesy of Jenny Chuang/Pac-12)

After recently being ranked inside the AP Top 25, two Bruins were selected to preseason award watch lists honoring the best players at each position on the court.

No. 20 UCLA women’s basketball had a new Bruin, transfer point guard Gina Conti, and now third-year starter shooting guard Charisma Osborne named to the lists for their respective positions this week. The five awards, which started being given out together in 2018, are presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association every year.

Conti is entering her first year at UCLA after spending her previous four years and last three as a starter at Wake Forest. Now a graduate student, Conti will introduce herself as a Bruin by being chosen as one of the 20 names for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award. This is the first time that she has been named to the watch list for the Lieberman Award.

In her most recent season with the Deacons, Conti was an All-ACC Second Team player while averaging 13.8 points and 4.6 assists per game. She helped lead her team to an NCAA Tournament appearance, but got knocked out by Oklahoma State in the first round. Playing 35.3 minutes per game in 2020-2021, Conti will likely have her time on the court trimmed a bit with the Bruins, but she should still have a chance to stay on the list as the season goes on.

Alongside Conti, two other Pac-12 players made the list with Oregon point guard Te-Hina Pao Pao and Utah point guard Dru Gylten being named. On Dec. 11, last year’s reigning Liebermann Award winner Paige Bueckers will face off against Conti when the Bruins face No. 1 UConn in Newark, New Jersey.

Osborne, meanwhile, was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award. This is the second time that the junior has been named to the award watch list that honors the former Bruin who has her No. 15 hung up in Pauley Pavilion.

Last year, Osborne carried a lot of the workload for a Bruins roster that was short on depth. Averaging 17.0 points per game, she was the second-highest leading scorer just behind Michaela Onyenwere on last year’s squad. At the season’s end, Osborne was selected for both the Pac-12 First Team and Defensive Team. Now in 2021, Osborne will compete to be honored again and this time possibly win the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award this time around.

Three other Pac-12 members were named to the list with Osborne. Arizona point guard Taylor Chavez, Stanford point guard Lexie Hull and Washington State point guard Charlisse Leger-Walker made the cut. Those four will compete to bring the award back to the PAC-12 after former Arizona point guard Aari McDonald won in 2019-2020.

Starting Friday, Bruin fans can vote online to try to send Conti and Osborne to the next rounds of their respective awards. 

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