Johnson and Williams Named to Wooden Midseason List
Jan. 27, 2012
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami Hurricanes Shenise Johnson and Riquna Williams have been named to the Women’s Midseason Nominee List for the 2011 John R. Wooden Award, as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club Friday. The Wooden Award is considered the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.
The backcourt duo has led the Hurricanes to an 18-3 overall record and have led Miami to a program record 36-game home win-streak. Johnson and Williams rank fourth and fifth in the conference with 16.2 and 15.5 points per game respectively.
Johnson joins Colorado’s Chucky Jeffery as the only players in a BCS Automatically Qualifying conference to ranks among the Top 10 in points, rebounds and assists. The Henrietta, N.Y. native became the fourth player in team history to reach the 2,000-point plateau. Williams is just 24 points shy of reach the milestone herself.
Williams led the Canes to wins over No. 11 Rutgers and No. 5 Maryland with 34 and 36 points respectively. Her performance against the Terps was fueled by a career-record tying eight three-pointers, it was also Miami’s first ever win over a Top 5 team.
Last season, the pair led the Hurricanes to a No. 3 seed and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wooden Award Midseason Nominee list are based on this year’s individual performance and team records.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the preseason list. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December’s Midseason list and the official voting ballot released in March. The National Ballot consists of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top five players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 36th annual Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the announcement of the men’s and women’s Wooden Award winners, a presentation of the Wooden Award All-American teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will take place the weekend of April 9-11, 2012.
In August, Johnson and Williams were named to the 2011-2012 preseason “Wade Watch” list for the State Farm Wade Trophy Division I Player of the Year.
The Hurricanes head to Boston College this Sunday before returning home to host Clemson on Feb. 5.
2011-12 John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 List
| Name | Class | Position | University | Conference |
| Alex Bentley | Jr. | G | Penn State | Big Ten |
| Elena Delle Donne | Jr. | G/F | Delaware | CAA |
| Skylar Diggins$ | Jr. | G | Notre Dame | Big East |
| Shante Evans | Jr. | F | Hofstra | CAA |
| Brittney Griner*$ | Jr. | C | Baylor | Big 12 |
| Bria Hartley | So. | G | Connecticut | Big East |
| Glory Johnson | GS | F | Tennessee | SEC |
| Shenise Johnson $ | Sr. | F | Miami | ACC |
| A’dia Mathies | Jr. | G | Kentucky | SEC |
| Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis | Fr. | F | Connecticut | Big East |
| Natalie Novosel | Sr. | G | Notre Dame | Big East |
| Nnemkadi Ogwumike*@$ | Sr. | F | Stanford | Pac-12 |
| Chiney Ogwuumike | So. | F | Stanford | Pac-12 |
| Samantha Prahalis | Sr. | G | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| Sugar Rodgers$ | Jr. | G | Georgetown | Big East |
| Odyssey Sims | So. | G | Baylor | Big 12 |
| Shekinna Stricklen$ | Sr. | G | Tennessee | SEC |
| Alyssa Thomas | So. | F | Maryland | ACC |
| Elizabeth Williams | Fr. | C | Duke | ACC |
| Riquna Williams | Sr. | G | Miami | ACC |
Players listed alphabetically.)
GS = Graduate Student
*indicates player chosen to the 2011 Wooden All American Team
$indicates player chosen to the 2011 Wooden Award ballot
@ indicates player chosen to the 2010 Wooden All American team
Award winner honored April 6, 2012 at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.
