LSU women’s basketball’s Aneesah Morrow is a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award, announced Tuesday.
Morrow is one of 10 semifinalists and three players from the SEC alongside Texas’ Rori Harmon and Tennessee’s Talaysia Cooper. The six-foot-one forward stands out among the rest as she consistently locks down much taller opponents, limiting their scoring and rebounding opportunities.
This season, Morrow leads the country with 27 double-doubles and 13.6 rebounds per game. Her 8.5 defensive boards per contest are fourth in the country. She limits second chance opportunities for opponents and forces turnovers in the paint. Morrow’s 2.6 steps per contest are in the nation’s top-25 and No. 3 in the SEC.
Following two seasons at DePaul, Morrow transferred to join head coach Kim Mulkey’s team. She adjusted quickly and etched her name into the record books. Her 101 career double-doubles are second all-time in the country and she is one of eight players in history with 2,500+ points and 1,500 rebounds in a career. Morrow is 47 rebounds shy of ranking third for all-time rebounds.
Morrow and her team are slated to be a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to the latest ESPN Braketology. LSU will learn its seeding for March Madness on March 16 during Selection Sunday.
Here are the semifinalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
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Lauren Betts, UCLA
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Talaysia Cooper, Tenessee
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Rori Harmon, Texas
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Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
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Aneesah Morrow, LSU
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Sedona Prince, TCU
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JJ Quinerly, West Virginia
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Taylor Thierry, Ohio Sttae
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Makayla Timpson, Florida State
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JuJu Watkins, USC
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU’s Aneesah Morrow named finalist for Defensive Player of the Year
