Byline: CHUCK SCHOFFNER Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A veteran player and a rookie coach have earned the top awards in women's basketball from The Associated Press.
The Player of the Year is Connecticut senior Jennifer Rizzotti, whose leadership and hustle have kept the Huskies in the running for a second consecutive national championship.
Angie Lee, who engineered a dramatic turnaround at Iowa in her first season as a head coach, was named the national Coach of the Year.
Both awards were based on voting by Associated Press member newspapers nationwide.
Rizzotti's importance to Connecticut lies more in results than numbers.
The 5-foot-5 guard, a first-team All-American, averages a modest 10.8 points a game, but her team is 34-3 with 20 successive victories. She also averages 5.8 assists and three steals a game, and she has three times as many steals and assists as turnovers.
Relying heavily on six sophomores and two freshmen, Iowa won the Big Ten championship and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Mideast Regional. The 27 victories matched the second-best total in school history, but Lee takes none of the credit.
``I guess it's just another compliment to the team and assistant coaches,'' she said. ``I truly believe that. They did a great job all year.''
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Associated Press/PAT SULLIVANSTANFORD PLAYERS do push-ups Thursday at Charlotte Coliseum during a practice session for tonight's semifinal game against Georgia. Associated Press/PETER HARRISCONNECTICUT'S JENNIFER RIZZOTTI holds her trophy Thursday in Charlotte, N.C., after being named Player of the Year by the Associated Press.
