BATON ROUGE — Sylvia Fowles received her fourth first-team All-America honor of the season on Thursday when the 6-6 senior center of the LSU women’s basketball team was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association 2007-08 women’s All-American team.
Fowles, who will lead LSU into Tampa, Fla., and the program’s fifth straight NCAA Final Four this week, is joined on the team by Maryland’s Crystal Langhorne and Kristi Tolliver, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, Tennessee’s Candace Parker, Stanford’s Candice Wiggins, Middle Tennessee’s Amber Holt, North Carolina’s Erlana Larkins, Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry, and Connecticut’s Maya Moore.
Parker, one of five repeat All-Americans and four three-time selections on this year’s team, received the USBWA’s Player of the Year honor and is the third player to win it back-to-back years.
UConn’s Gene Auriemma was named the USBWA Coach of the Year for the third time. He also received the honor in 1995 and 2003. His freshman, Moore, the Freshman of the Year, follows Tina Charles of the Huskies, giving UConn back-to-back winners of that honor.
Fowles, the 2008 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, has already been named first-team All-American by the Associated Press, ESPN.com and the John R. Wooden award in addition to receiving the WBCA’s National Defensive Player of the Year honor.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association, formed in 1956, has named a women’s All-America team since the 1996-97 season. The association has also named a national player of the year since 1987-88 and a national coach of the year since 1989-90. In 2002-03, the USBWA initiated an award for the nation’s top freshman.
For more information about the USBWA and its annual awards, contact Executive Director Joe Mitch in the Missouri Valley Conference office at 314-421-0339.