SPRINGFIELD, MASS. (October 20, 2023) – Washington State Women's Basketball center Bella Murekatete was named one of 20 candidates for the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award, The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Friday.

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 seventh year, recognizes the top centers in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates.

Murekatete is named to the watch list for the third straight season and is one of six Pac-12 Conference centers recognized. Murekatete was named Preseason All-Pac-12 after being named to honorable mention prior to last season where she went on to earn All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, was a Lisa Leslie Top-10 Finalist and earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team. The senior from Rwanda started all 34 games a season ago and was one of three Pac-12 players to rank inside the Top-10 in points, rebounds and blocks, joining Stanford's Cameron Brink and Haley Jones. Murekatete averaged 13.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg and tallied 43 blocks while shooting a team-best 49.1 field goal percentage.

"The student-athletes that have been named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List are some of the best centers in the game, and we are excited to watch them excel on the court this season," said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. "Lisa Leslie is one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and her achievements at the collegiate, international and professional levels go largely unmatched by anyone in the game. We are thankful for her involvement alongside the selection committee throughout this process."
 
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting today, October 20. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Leslie and the Hall of Fame's selection committee, where a winner will be selected. 

 The winner of the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), and the Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward), in addition to the Men's Starting Five.

For more information on the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #LeslieAward on Twitter and Instagram. 

 About Lisa Leslie: Widely regarded as the best player in the country during her senior year of high school, Leslie decided to play basketball close to home at the University of Southern California. While at USC, she set Pac-10 records for scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, earning All-Pac-10 honors each of her four seasons. In 1991, she was named national freshman of the year and went on to earn All-American Honors the following three seasons. In her senior season, she won multiple national player of the year awards, including the Naismith College Player of the Year and the WBCA Player of the Year. In the summer of 1997, the Women's National Basketball Association was launched and with it, Lisa Leslie became a household name. The Los Angeles Sparks landed the hometown star, who would go on to help them win two world championships. As an eight-time All-Star and three-time MVP, Leslie became the face of the WNBA. In 2002, she became the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. Leslie retired as the all-time leading rebounder in WNBA history and was an eight-time First Team All-WNBA performer.Internationally, Leslie won four gold medals in Olympic competition. Since retiring from professional play, Leslie has worked as a sports commentator and analyst for several networks while exploring fashion modeling and acting as well.

The Cougars return eight players including four starters from last year's team who won a program-record 23 games and captured the program's first Pac-12 Women's Basketball Championship. WSU knocked off three straight ranked teams in Las Vegas en route to the 2023 Pac-12 Championship and clinched their third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Ethridge, the 2022-23 National Coach of the Year by The Athletic, will see three All-Pac-12 players return this season led by All-America guard Leger-Walker.

Season tickets for the 2023-24 Washington State women's basketball season are on sale at WSUCougars.com or by calling the WSU Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-COUGS.

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