The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced the five finalists for the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award.
Named after the three-time All-American,1994 National Player of the Year and Class of 2015 Hall of Famer, the annual award in its sixth year recognizes the top centers in women's NCAA Division I college basketball.
For the second consecutive season, Virginia Tech's Elizabeth Kitley was named a finalist.
The other four finalists are Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana), Monika Czinano (Iowa), Jessika Carter (Mississippi State) and Aliyah Boston (South Carolina).
Kitley was named the ACC's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, the conference office announced Tuesday evening. She became the tenth woman in ACC history to win the award in consecutive seasons.
The Summerfield, North Carolina native ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (18.78), second in field goal percentage (.569), first in rebounds (10.74), first in blocks (2.3), first in double-doubles (18) and is the only athlete in the conference to record a 20-rebound game.
She won ACC Player of the Week four times, the most of any athlete, including each of the last two weeks as she has recorded four consecutive 20-point double-doubles while shooting 60.2% from the field.
With her Player of the Year Award comes a third First Team All-ACC nod, the most in program history. Kitley was also recognized as an All-Defensive Team member for the second consecutive season. She led the conference in rebounding, defensive rebounds and blocks per game this season.
Kitley is the 20th woman in league history to be named First Team All-ACC three times.
