ATLANTA – Drake University women's basketball senior
Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) has been selected as an All-Region nominee for the 2017 WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches' All-America team, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced Thursday, March 23 evening. The selection committee will select the 10-member WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches' All-America team from 52 candidates. Wendell was one of 12 honorees selected to the WBCA Region 4 team.
In her final season, Wendell, who was named the 2017 Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, averaged a league-leading 21.0 points and ranked among the top six in the MVC in assists (3.0, 5th), free throw percentage (74.3, 6
th), shooting percentage (49.8, 5th) and steals (2.7, 2nd). Wendell's scoring average ranks 13
th in the nation, and she is the first MVC player to lead the league in scoring in three-straight seasons since Jackie Stiles led the league four straight seasons from 1998-2001.
Wendell helped Drake tie a program record for single season wins with a 28-5 record in 2016-17. The Bulldogs finished 18-0 in league play to win the regular season title and then claimed the MVC Tournament title with three wins in three days. The tournament title gave the Bulldogs an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, its first NCAA appearance since 2007.
Wendell scored 2,551 career points, which is the third most in Drake and MVC history and second among active NCAA Division I players. She is just the fourth Bulldog and eighth MVC player to score 2,000 or more points. Wendell was selected to the All-MVC First Team all four years of her outstanding career, a feat that has been accomplished by just six others in MVC history. She was tabbed MVC Player of the Week a league-high five times this season and 14 times in her career, a total that is second all-time in Valley history behind Stiles. She had the longest double figure scoring streak in MVC history at 102-consecutive games and scored in double figures in 124-of-129 career games. Wendell leads active MVC players in career 20-plus point scoring games with 66 and 30-plus point games with 11, including two 43-point career-high performances
In her freshman season, Wendell won a program-record eight MVC Newcomer of the Week awards and was named the MVC Freshman of the Year. She nabbed 268 career steals to rank second all-time at Drake, her career scoring clip of 19.8 points per game ranks third all-time at Drake and she made 230 three-pointers to rank fourth all-time at Drake.
The selection committee uses an equation to determine an equitable number of nominees from each region. The number of NCAA Division I institutions in each region is divided by the number of NCAA Division I institutions overall to determine a percentage for each region. This percentage is then multiplied by 52 (the total number of desired finalists) to get the number of finalists for each region.
The 2017 WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches' All-America team will be announced Saturday, April 1 during the WBCA Convention in Dallas.
WBCA Region 4 Nominees
| Name |
Institution |
Year |
Pos. |
| Allazia Blockton |
Marquette |
Sophomore |
Guard |
| Tyra Buss |
Indiana |
Junior |
Guard |
| Nia Coffey |
Northwestern |
Senior |
Forward |
| Katelynn Flaherty |
Michigan |
Junior |
Guard |
| Tori Jankoska |
Michigan State |
Senior |
Guard |
| Jessica January |
DePaul |
Senior |
Guard |
| Brionna Jones |
Maryland |
Graduate Student |
Center |
| Kelsey Mitchell |
Ohio State |
Junior |
Guard |
| Teniya Page |
Penn State |
Sophomore |
Guard |
| Brooke Schulte |
DePaul |
Senior |
Guard |
| Shatori Walker-Kimbrough |
Maryland |
Senior |
Guard |
| Lizzy Wendell |
Drake |
Senior |
Forward |
