Stanford junior point guard Amber Orrange was named to the Lieberman Award Watch List, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Wednesday.
Orrange is one of 29 players on the list for the award, which, named in honor of Nancy Lieberman, honors the nation’s top point guard. Orrange is also one of two Pac-12 players on the list, being joined by California’s Brittany Boyd.
The list will be narrowed down to 20 in February, then to five in March. The winner will be announced during Final Four Weekend in Nashville in April.
Orrange, the conductor of Stanford’s prolific offense for much of the past three seasons, has expanded her scoring talent in 2013-14. The Houston native is averaging 10.4 points per game and is the Pac-12’s top 3-point shooter (44.1 percent) while sitting 10th overall with a 48.8 field-goal percentage.
Running the Cardinal offense, Orrange has continued her role as one of the top set-up players, leading the Pac-12 with a 2.96 assist-to-turnover ratio and ranking third with 4.63 assists per game.
Behind Orrange’s steady play at the point, Stanford is off to a 15-1 start and ranked fourth in both national polls. The Cardinal hits the road for the second straight week starting Thursday, heading to the desert where it will visit Arizona and No. 19/24 Arizona State Friday and Monday, respectively. Both games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Men’s gymnastics
Stanford’s Akash Modi was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week for his standout performance in the Cardinal’s season-opening victory at California, as announced by the conference Tuesday.
Modi earned three individual titles in his collegiate debut, finishing first in the all-around (88.150), floor (15.350) and parallel bars (15.250). He also contributed big scores on vault (15.000), rings (14.650) and pommel horse (14.250).
The Morganville, N.J. native helped lead Stanford to a 431.100-425.650 victory at No. 7 California. The Cardinal outscored the Golden Bears in four of six events. It was Stanford’s eighth consecutive victory over Cal dating back to the 2013 season-opener, also in Berkeley.
Stanford will see Cal again this weekend in its own home opener on Saturday in Burnham Pavilion at 4 p.m.
Men’s swimming
After leading Stanford to a dual-meet win last week over Pacific, junior David Nolan has been named the Philip Hunsaker Men’s Division I Swimmer of the Week, as announced Wednesday by CollegeSwimming.com.
Nolan had a hand in Stanford’s 200 medley relay (1:30.29, 22.29 backstroke split) victory and went on to win the 200 free (1:37.00) and 50 free (20.69). Nolan also split an impressive 19.78 in the winning 200 free relay (1:23.33).
The 12-time All-American is the school recordholder in the 200 back (1:39.31) and 200 IM (1:41.21).
Stanford returns to action against Arizona (Jan. 24) and Arizona State (Jan. 25) in a Pac-12 Conference doubleheader at Avery Aquatic Center.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics