May 27, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern junior attacker Shannon Smith has been selected as one of four finalists for the 2011 Honda Sports Award for Women's Lacrosse, which annually honors the top performer in the sport that season. The winners of the Honda Award in 12 NCAA-sponsored women's sports are pooled as candidates for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which goes to the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.
Smith, also a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award, extends Northwestern's streak of years with a Lacrosse Honda Sports Award to seven. Kristen Kjellman was a three-time winner of the award (2005-07), Hannah Nielsen took home the honor in 2008 and 2009 and Katrina Dowd was selected as a finalist in 2010.
Also selected as finalists in lacrosse were Grace Gavin (Loyola (Md.)), Sarah Mollison (Maryland) and Katie Schwarzmann (Maryland).
It has been a landmark year for Smith, who enters the NCAA semifinals Friday night with 78 goals and a Division I-leading 119 points, both good for second-most in a single season in Northwestern history. She has particularly been a force for NU since the start of the postseason, scoring exactly five goals in two conference tournament outings and two NCAA Championship contests.
Smith has repeatedly demonstrated her value to the Wildcats with the game on the line, most memorably with her seven-goal effort in a 12-11 win over No. 7 Stanford on April 24 and her late-game tallies vs. top-seeded Florida in the title game of the ALC Championship on May 6.
The junior from West Babylon, N.Y., has quickly joined the ranks of Northwestern's all-time scoring leaders, moving into sixth in assists (79), seventh in points (259) and eighth in goals (180).
Already this year, the Collegiate Women Sports Awards have selected seven candidates for the 2010-11 Honda Broderick Cup -- Blair Brown of Penn State (volleyball), Melissa Henderson of Notre Dame (soccer), Kayla Hoffman of Alabama (gymnastics), Katinka Hosszu of USC (swimming), Maya Moore of Connecticut (basketball), Katie O'Donnell of Maryland (field hockey) and Sheila Reid of Villanova (cross country).
Notification of the winner for the Lacrosse Honda Sports Award will come on June 6 following a vote by approximately 1,000 NCAA member institutions. American Honda will donate $1,000 to the women's athletic fund of the four nominee's universities and $5,000 to the winner's school.
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