Baylor’s Brittney Griner awarded the Honda Cup

From Baylor:

Baylor’s Brittney Griner was awarded the Honda Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year in a ceremony that was aired live on ESPNU on Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.

Griner becomes the first Baylor student-athlete to receive the prestigious Honda Cup. As the Honda prize recipient for basketball, Griner was one of three finalists, along with Teresa Noyola of Stanford University (soccer) and Keilani Ricketts of the University of Oklahoma (softball), for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and Honda Cup. The Honda Sports Award is presented annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.

“I have learned [by being on a team] how to work with people. I have been blessed with great teammates and coaches and my family is behind me,” said Griner at the award ceremony.

“I am so proud of Brittney and all that she and her teammates achieved this season,” said Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey. “Winning the Honda Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year over all of the other impressive sport nominees puts the cap on an unbelievable year for Brittney and Baylor University. When she committed to Baylor, we knew Brittney would become the face of women’s basketball and she has certainly fulfilled that, but to be recognized as the best player in the nation among all of the collegiate sports, that is truly an impressive accomplishment.”

As a junior Griner led Baylor to the 2012 NCAA national championship and the first 40-0 season in either the men’s or women’s college game. She won the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Trophy, The Associated Press national player of the year honor and was the WBCA defensive player of the year.

Griner, a 6-foot-8 post from Houston, averaged 23.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and a nation’s-best 5.2 blocks per game this season, setting a Big 12 women’s scoring record. The junior also became the first women’s collegiate player to score more than 2,000 points and block more than 500 shots and needs just 65 blocks to become the all-time block shot leader. In Baylor’s 80-61 NCAA title victory over Notre Dame, Griner had 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.