The Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards today announced the “Top Three” finalists for the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup, its annual top honor designating The Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. This year’s finalists are, in alphabetical order: Blair Brown, Penn State University (volleyball), Maya Moore, University of Connecticut (basketball) and Sheila Reid, Villanova University (cross-country, track and field). The winner of the 2011 Honda-Broderick Cup will be revealed at a special press conference on June 27th at Columbia University in New York. The “Top Three” finalists were chosen from previously announced Honda Sports Award winners in 12 different NCAAsanctioned sports, by a vote from among more than 1,000 NCAA-member institutions.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE "TOP THREE"

Blair Brown (senior, volleyball) – A native of Purcellville, VA, Brown led the Penn State University Lions to their fourth straight NCAA championship title as team captain in her senior year, scoring a match-high 18 kills in the national title game. A three-time AVCA All-American, she was named Big Ten Player of the Year, as well as the University Park Regional Most Outstanding Player. In addition to guiding the Nittany Lions to the NCAA Championship, Brown earned a spot on the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team. Brown started all 37 matches during her senior year and led her team with 521 kills (4.24 kills average per set on .320 hitting). She closed out her college career with 1,295 kills, graduating in December 2010 with an English and Political Science major. In the summer of 2010, Brown trained with the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team.

Maya Moore (senior, basketball) – Moore, a native of Jefferson City, Missouri who grew up in Lawrenceville, Georgia, has been nominated for the Honda Sports Award for basketball all four years of her college career and won the honor last year. Notably, because she won the Honda-Broderick Cup last year, she now has a shot at making history as only the second athlete to be named as Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year twice. (Tracy Caulkins won in ‘82 and ‘84). Moore led the UConn team to four Final Four appearances, two national titles and a 150-4 record. She is the fourth-leading scorer in NCAA history, with 3,036 points. Honored as the Capital One University Division Academic All-American of the Year and BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2010 and 2011, Moore was also selected as a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2009. A three-time WBCA Wade Trophy honoree and four-time WBCA State Farm First Team All-American, she won the Naismith Trophy, the Associated Press Player of the Year Award and the USBWA Player of the Year Award in 2009 and 2011. She was also the John R. Wooden Award honoree in 2009 and 2011. Moore held a 3.669 GPA in sports media and promotion. She was the #1 draft pick for the WNBA this year and is currently playing with the Minnesota Lynx.

Sheila Reid (senior, cross-country, track and field) – Reid, a native of Newmarket, Ontario, recently capped a great year when she was crowned the NCAA Outdoor Champion in the 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter races – the first woman in history to win both events in the same year. She was also the Indoor National Champion in the distance medley. She was selected All-American in the 3,000-meter. She finished her season as the Big East Indoor champion in the 1,000-meter, 4x800-meter relay, distance medley relay and outdoor titlist in the 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter. The indoor and outdoor Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year is a12-time Big East Champion, a nine-time All-American selection and NCAA individual cross country titlist. Like many Honda Sports Award winners, Reid is an academic standout in addition to her excellence in athletics. The four-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star was selected to the Academic All-District first team and holds a GPA of 3.408 with a major in English.

The other eight individual Honda Sports Award winners who were nominated to become “Top Three” finalists this year include: Kelsey Bruder of the University of Florida (softball), Melissa Henderson from Notre Dame (soccer), Kayla Hoffman from the University of Alabama (gymnastics), Katinka Hosszu from the University of Southern California (swimming & diving), Jana Juricova of the University of California, Berkeley (tennis), Katie O’Donnell from the University of Maryland (field hockey), Shannon Smith of Northwestern University (lacrosse) and Marta Silva Zamora from the University of Georgia (golf).