THE FINALISTS
	Svetlana Abrosimova, UConn Edwina Brown, Texas Tamika Catchings, Tennessee Katie Douglas, Purdue Summer Erb, N.C. State Stacy Frese, Iowa State Tamicha Jackson, La. Tech Betty Lennox, La. Tech Maylana Martin, UCLA Kelly Miller, Georgia Lynn Pride, Kansas Shea Ralph, UConn Semeka Randall, Tennessee Ruth Riley, Notre Dame Jackie Stiles, SMS

Tennessee's Tamika Catchings, Connecticut's Svetlana Abrosimova and UCLA's Maylana Martin, the top three vote-getters in the award's preseason voting, were among the finalists.

The annual award honors the outstanding college basketball players in the United States, and was first given to a women's basketball player in 1983.

This list also included Abrosimova's UConn teammate, Shea Ralph, and the Lady Vols' Semeka Randall, as well as Edwina Brown of Texas, Katie Douglas of Purdue, Summer Erb of North Carolina State, Stacy Frese of Iowa State, Tamicha Jackson and Betty Lennox of Louisiana Tech, Kelly Miller of Georgia, Lynn Pride of Kansas, Ruth Riley of Notre Dame and Jackie Stiles of Southwest Missouri State.

Abrosimova and Ralph have helped guide top-ranked Connecticut, which has been No. 1 since the season tipped off, to a 24-1 record. Ralph, a junior, leads the Huskies in points with a 14.8 scoring average. Abrosimova, a junior forward, ranks second in scoring (13.8 ppg) and also averages a team-high 6.1 rebounds.

Catchings, a junior, leads the third-ranked Lady Vols with a 15.1 scoring average, and Randall, also a junior, averages 14.1 points. Both were first-team All-Americans in 1999.

Stiles, a junior guard, leads the nation in scoring, averaging 26.6 points through 23 games. Texas' Brown, a senior, ranks sixth on the list with a 21.7 scoring average, followed by Douglas at No. 8 with a 21. 5 average. Douglas, a junior guard, helped lead the Boilermakers to the NCAA title last season.

La. Tech's Jackson and Lennox, touted as the nation's quickest backcourt, have guided the Lady Techsters to a No. 4 ranking. Miller, who helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to the Final Four last season, has helped No. 2 Georgia become a mainstay among the nation's top five teams.

N.C. State's Erb, a senior who was the 1999 ACC Player of the Year, is currently sidelined with a broken foot, but is expected to return in mid-March. She is leading the Wolfpack in both scoring and rebounding.

Frese, a senior guard for the Cyclones, is one of the nation's top 3-point shooters. She shoots 45 percent (59 of 131) from beyond the arc, and sinks an average of 2.7 treys a game.

Riley, who has helped the Irish build a 20-game winning streak, led the nation in field goal percentage last season, and in her junior season, ranks second, sinking 64 percent (137 of 214) of her attempts from the field. Notre Dame has been ranked No. 5 in the coaches' poll for five straight weeks, and hasn't dropped out of the top 10 the entire season.

Martin, a senior forward, helped lead the Bruins to a share of the Pac-10 title in 1999. Pride, a senior at Kansas, has the Jayhawks contending for the Big 12 title.

The winner, selected by Naismith's National Advisory Board members, NCAA Division I coaches, former Naismith winners, NCAA Division I conference commissioners and media representatives, will be presented with the award April 8 in Atlanta.

Tennessee graduate Chamique Holdsclaw won the award in 1999.