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Three seniors who are their respective conferences' preseason player of the year are on the watch list for the Lisa Leslie Award, which honors the top center in the country. Baylor's Kalani Brown has that honor in the Big 12, while Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan has it in the SEC and Iowa's Megan Gustafson in the Big Ten. Not all the players up for the Leslie award are listed strictly as centers on their rosters, but all are known for their prowess close to the basket, both scoring and rebounding. Gustafson led Division I in scoring last season at 25.7 points per game, and was fifth in rebounding at 12.8. The 6-foot-7 McCowan was second in the country in rebounding at 13.9, plus averaged 18.2 points. Brown, also 6-foot-7, averaged 20.1 PPG and 10.2 RPG last season. All three players were in the top 20 in field goal percentage, with the 6-foot-3 Gustafson first (67.1), Brown fourth (65.0) and McCowan 16th (60.1). Five Big Ten players are on the Leslie list: Gustafson, Nebraska's Kate Cain, Purdue's Ae'Rianna Harris, Michigan's Hallie Thome and Illinois' Alex Wittinger. There are four on the list from the ACC: North Carolina's Janelle Bailey, Louisville's Sam Fuehring, Notre Dame's Brianna Turner and Duke's Jade Williams. Joining Brown on the list from the Big 12 are TCU's Jordan Moore and Texas' Jatarie White. The others on the list are Cal's Kristine Anigwe, Vanderbilt's Mariella Fasoula, Cal State Northridge's Channon Fluker, New Mexico's Jaisa Nunn, UNLV's Katie Powell, Cal State Fullerton's Daeja Smith and IUPUI's Macee Williams. The other women's college basketball positional awards, which are sponsored by the Naismith Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, are named after Nancy Lieberman (point guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale (shooting guard), Cheryl Miller (small forward) and Katrina McClain (power forward). All of the watch lists have been released this week, but other players can play their way into consideration during the season. Each award will be pared down to 10 finalists in February and five in March. The winners will be announced at the Final Four in Tampa in April.
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