Murray State University Athletics
Hayes Joins Guffey on Naismith Trophy Watch List
2/13/2009 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Senior Ashley Hayes continues to add to her list of
accomplishments for the 2008-09 campaign, with the most recent being named to
the Naismith Trophy Watch List. The
award is given annually to the top women's college player in the country.
Fellow senior Amber Guffey was named to list earlier this season, which makes Murray State one of just four schools with two student-athletes on the list, No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 Oklahoma, and Virginia are the others.
“I can't say enough of the play of Ashley Hayes and Amber Guffey this season and especially in the last three games,” said head coach Rob Cross. “They know that the intensity level steps up in the final five or six games of the regular season and they needed to turn up the intensity on the team through leadership. Both have been excellent players for us all season and I am glad that they have both earned this national recognition.”Hayes earned her spot on the list because of her
outstanding play this season, especially in the last three games. The Humboldt, Tenn., native has tallied over
30 points in each of the last three games and has averaged 37.7 points and 11.7
rebounds in those three outings. Hayes
is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation in scoring (23.2 ppg) and No. 71 in
rebounding (8.8 rpg). In the Racers Feb.
4 game at Tennessee State she set the school's, men's or women's, single game
scoring record with 46 points. At the
time the mark was the most points scored by a women's player in NCAA Division I
this season.
When Guffey was named to the list in December she became
the first Racer to earn the distinction.
She has also been stepping up in the last part of her senior
campaign. While Hayes was tallying over
30 points per game she was quietly averaging 23 points, six rebounds, and 7.7
assists per game. The Albany, Ky.,
native is currently the 12th-best scorer in the country, averaging
20.7 points per game.
Hayes and Guffey are the best scoring duo in the nation,
with no other team in Division I having two players in the top-50 on the NCAA
individual points per game chart.
The Naismith Trophy voting academy, comprised of leading
basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, is
voting to narrow its list to the Top 30 players in the nation. Those players will
be eligible for the final ballot in March.
