March 10, 2008

Pocatello, ID --- Natalie Doma, the all-time leading scorer in both Idaho State and Big Sky Conference history, was officially named to the final ballot for the John Wooden Award, becoming the first women's basketball player in Idaho State and Big Sky history to ever be a finalist for a National Player of the Year Award. The announcement was made today at The Los Angeles Athletic Club by John R. Wooden Award Chairman Richard "Duke" Llewellyn. The Wooden Award winner will be announced on Saturday, April 12, during a special ceremony at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Doma, who has been named the Big Sky Player of the Week six times this season and 13 times in her career, broke the Big Sky's career scoring mark against Sacramento State two weeks ago, and she owns over 20 Big Sky and ISU career records. This season she is ranked second in the nation in rebounding at 12.0 per game, and third in scoring at 24.8 points per game. She is the only player ranked in the top five nationally in both scoring and rebounding, and she is one of only two players averaging a "Super Double-Double" of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Last year four players averaged such a feat.

Doma also is shooting .831 from the free throw line, helping ISU lead the nation in that category as well. Idaho State also ranks 11th nationally in scoring offense, and the Bengals are currently 20-8, tying for the second-most wins in school history. Doma has been a part of 67 wins over the last four years, the most successful four-year period in ISU's history. ISU has also picked up wins this year over UCLA and Oregon State of the PAC-10 conference.

A panel of more than 300 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from around the nation, have until 3 p.m. EST on Monday, March 31 to cast their votes for the five-member women's All-American Team and Player of the Year, a long voting period that allows voters to evaluate players up through the first several rounds of the NCAA Tournament. All players on the ballots have proven to their universities that they are making progress toward graduation and are maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

The 2008 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men's and Women's Wooden Award winners, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of April 11-12. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for their university's general scholarship fund.

About the John R. Wooden Award Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include LSU's Seimone Augustus and returning player Candace Parker of Tennessee.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award's name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-American players, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday of the John R. Wooden Award weekend.

For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact Christin Maxwell at 213-630-5291/woodenaward@laac.net or visit www.WoodenAward.com. Media may visit the website or contact Linda Reid at 310-291-9205/lindreid@aol.com.

Women's Wooden Award 2008 Official Ballot

Tina	   Charles	6-4	So.	C	Connecticut
Natalie	   Doma 	6-3	Sr.	C	Idaho State
Sylvia	   Fowles*	6-6	Sr.	C	LSU
Amber	   Holt	        6-0	Sr.	F	Middle Tennessee State
Tasha	   Humphrey	6-3	Sr.	F	Georgia
Crystal	   Kelly	6-3	Sr.	F	Western Kentucky
Crystal	   Langhorne	6-2	Sr.	C/F	Maryland
Erlana	   Larkins	6-1	Sr.	F	North Carolina
Angel	   McCoughtry	6-1	Jr.	F	Louisville
Maya	   Moore	6-0	Fr.	F	Connecticut
Courtney   Paris*	6-4	Jr.	C	Oklahoma
Candace    Parker*	6-4	Jr.	F/G/C	Tennessee
Epiphanny  Prince	5-9	So.	G	Rutgers
Andrea	   Riley	5-5	So.	G	Oklahoma State
Angela	   Tisdale	5-7	Sr.	G	Baylor
Kristi	   Toliver	5-7	Jr.	G	Maryland
Candice    Wiggins	5-11	Sr.	G	Stanford
* Indicates player was a 2006-07 Wooden All-American