Pointer Added to Wade Trophy Watchlist

ATLANTA – LSU’s Khayla Pointer was added to the midseason watchlist for the Wade Trophy on Wednesday by the WBCA Division I Coaches’ All-America Selection Committee.

Pointer was one of seven midseason additions to the watchlist after not being listed on the preseason watchlist. The LSU guard has garnered attention as one of the nation’s elite players, also being named this week to watchlists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, the Dawn Staley Award and the Naismith Trophy. In Coach Kim Mulkey’s first season at LSU, Pointer has shined and the Tigers are 19-4 (7-3 SEC) with a home matchup on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT against Georgia in a Top-20 matchup on the SEC Network.

In her final season at LSU, Pointer is putting together the best season of her career leading the Tigers. She is on pace to set new career marks in points per game, assists per game and rebounds per game. With three more wins, LSU could also win more games than any other season of her career. Pointer recently became the first player in program history to record 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in her career. She currently ranks No. 3 in career assists and No. 7 in career points.

After being a preseason All-SEC selection, Pointer opened her season by becoming the third player in program history to record a triple-double in the season opener against Nicholls. She had a double-double the second game of this season and has five total double-doubles this year.

In LSU’s first game against a ranked team, Pointer had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists against No. 14 Iowa State to help the Tigers win their first ranked game which vaulted LSU into the AP Top-25. LSU has now been in the AP Top-10 for 10 straight weeks.

In the SEC opener, the Marietta, Georgia native Pointer led LSU to a win at Georgia when she hit two threes late in the fourth quarter to secure the victory and finish with 21 points. She hit a layup with 5.7 seconds left in overtime against Missouri to lift the Tigers to victory. After scoring 9 points in the first three quarters against Kentucky, Pointer scored 19 in the fourth quarter to help LSU overcome a five-point deficit and win by nine over the Wildcats.

Pointer is averaging 19.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, impacting each game in a variety of ways and leading LSU to its best start since the 2006-07 season. She is No. 2 in the SEC in scoring, No. 2 in assists, No. 10 in field goal percentage, No. 12 in steals and No. 14 in rebounding.

It is rare for Pointer to go to the bench, and she ranks No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 in the nation averaging 36 minutes per game. She has played all 40 minutes in 7 games, and she also never saw the bench in LSU’s overtime win over Missouri.

The Wade Trophy — now in its 45th year — is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women’s basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I National Player of the Year since 2001. This is the first year that freshmen players are eligible for the award. However, no freshmen are on the Wade Watch list.

The WBCA will announce the four finalists for the honor in mid-March. The winner of the 2022 Wade Trophy will be announced in late March or early April on a date to be determined.

2021-22 Wade Trophy Watchlist