Bird Leads The Associated Press Preseason All-America Team

STORRS, CT (Nov. 7, 2001) -- University of Connecticut senior point guard Sue Bird (Syosset, NY) was named to The Associated Press Preseason All-America team for women’s basketball, the news agency announced Wednesday. Bird led all selections with 43 of a possible 45 points from the national media panel.

Bird, a member of UConn’s 2000 National Championship and 2001 Final Four teams, averaged 10.9 points and five assists per game en route to AP third-team All America honors and her second National Point Guard of the Year Award last season. She is UConn’s all-time leader in three-point percentage, hitting 138 of 303 over her career for a .455 percentage.

Bird was joined on the preseason All-America team by Chantelle Anderson of Vanderbilt and Stacey Dales of Oklahoma, each of whom received 39 votes. Mississippi State’s LaToya Thomas and Duke’s Alana Beard rounded out the team, claiming 26 and 24 votes, respectively.

Tabbed preseason No. 1 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls, UConn begins its regular season this Friday, Nov. 9, against Fairfield in the first round of the preseason WNIT.