Courtesy of University of Vermont Athletic Communications

BURLINGTON, Vt. ? Senior guard Amy Rosenkrantz (Tempe, Ariz.) of the University of Vermont has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious 2008-09 Lowe's Senior CLASS Women's Basketball Award. A total of 30 senior male and female NCAA college basketball players were named candidates for the award which is presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports. The award is based on criteria focusing on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition. The award winners will be selected by national balloting of head basketball coaches, national media and college basketball fans.

Rosenkrantz, who is the lone representative from the America East Conference among the 30 finalists selected, was named to the league’s all-conference second team last season. She was also selected to the America East Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team, owning the second highest GPA of the five-player squad at 3.38 as a business administration major, and is a Dean's List student at UVM.

Rosenkrantz ranks third on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) and is second in rebounding (6.1 rpg). She also ranks among the conference leaders in five statistical categories this season. Rosenkrantz has played in 94 career games and is 107 points shy of the 1,000-career point milestone and 56 rebounds shy of 500 for her career.

"Amy is a tremendous leader on and off the court. She has demonstrated a great ability to lead us through tough times because of her calm demeanor and she is never rattled by challenges,” said Vermont head coach Sharon Dawley.

“Amy is the glue of the team, a floor general for us because of her uncanny basketball IQ and she knows what needs to happen for the team to be successful. She is a very focused individual who is determined to succeed in both her academic career and her athletic career," continued Dawley.

Rosenkrantz is the second UVM student-athlete to be considered for the Lowe’s award this season, joining classmate Connor Tobin (Fort Collins, Colo.) of the men’s soccer team.

Vermont stands at 5-5 on the year and returns to action on Monday (Dec. 29) at No. 20/24 Florida in the first round of the State Farm Classic, hosted by the Gators.

Past recipients of the women’s award include Sue Bird of Connecticut (2002), LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State (2003), Alana Beard of Duke (2004), Kendra Wecker of Kansas State (2005), Seimone Augustus of LSU (2006), Alison Bales of Duke (2007) and Candice Wiggins of Stanford (2008).

Lowe’s, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, will present the winners with trophies during the weekends of the respective NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.

The list of 2008-09 basketball candidates includes a range of universities and conferences across the country. All 30 female award candidates hail from a different university. While 18 conferences are included among the list of nominees, the Big 12 Conference again landed the most with five female candidates.

From each of the two lists of 30 nominees, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in February 2009. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. In addition to voting by Division I head basketball coaches and national media, college basketball fans will also be able to submit ballots by text voting or on-line at http://www.seniorclassaward.com.

The award was conceived by sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman. It was inspired by the remarkable story of former Duke University basketball player Shane Battier, who could have been an NBA lottery pick but returned to college for his senior season and led the Blue Devils to the National Championship in 2001.