Chantelle Anderson Named as Finalist for Two ESPN the Magazine Awards 3/5/02

Vanderbilt junior center Chantelle Anderson has been named as a finalist for two awards at the Second Annual Suzuki Presents ESPN The Magazine's College Basketball Awards. She is one of five finalists for the Wade Trophy (Women's Player of the Year) and one of three finalists for the Center of the Year. ESPN will stage and televise the awards show, which will honor the top performers in mens and women's college basketball on March 28 (Thursday), from 7-9 pm ET from Atlanta (Men's Final Four) and San Antonio (Women's Final Four).

The nominees were determined by separate ESPN The Magazine blue-ribbon panels. The winners will be decided by the 40-member USA Today/ESPN Board of Coaches - the Division I Women's Basketball Coaches Association who also vote on the USA Today/ESPN Women's Coaches Poll.

The Awards Ceremony will be held on the court of Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Georgia Tech, and the show will incorporate segments from the River Center Mall in San Antonio.

Last season, Anderson was nominated for the Center of the Year honor won by Notre Dame's Ruth Riley.

Anderson, the SEC Player of the Year and an SEC All-Tournament team selection, helped lead Vanderbilt to its third SEC Tournament Title and a 27-6 overall record and season-best 10-4 SEC mark. VU's 24 regular-season wins tie a season-high mark set in 1993 when the Commodores advanced to the Final Four and ended the season with a 30-3 record.

Anderson leads the team in scoring with 20.2 points a game and is second in the nation in field goal percentage hitting 65.9 percent (263-399). She is third on the Vanderbilt All-Time Scoring List with 1,924 points and is only the third Commodore to total at least 1,900 points in a career.

She is also third on the VU All-Time Field Goals Made List with 771. She was named SEC Player of the Week on Dec. 3 and was finalist for two awards at the Fourth Annual O'Charley's Dinner of Champions in February. Anderson has started in all 33 games this season averaging 29.2 minutes a game along with 6.3 rebounds. She owns a 74.6 free throw percentage (135-181) and has hit five 3-pointers. She also recorded five double-doubles this season. She set a career single season high mark with 49 assists and totals 666 points this season which is the fourth highest single season total at Vanderbilt. She earned numerous preseason all-america honors and was recently named as a finalist for the Naismith Basketball Award. She was also named to the WNIT and First Tennessee All-Tournament teams.