University of Tennessee Athletics
DeShields, Graves Named To Naismith Trophy Watch List
December 10, 2015 | Women's Basketball
NAISMITH TROPHY EARLY SEASON WATCH LIST
ATLANTA -- Tennessee's Diamond DeShields and Bashaara Graves are among 50 student-athletes named to the 2016 Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Early Season Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Thursday.
DeShields, a redshirt sophomore from Norcross, Ga., is leading Tennessee through eight games with a 14.3 points per game average. She also tops the team in steals (19), three-pointers (12) and free throw percentage (.857), and is second in assists (22) and fourth in rebound average (5.3).
The 6-foot-1 guard has scored in double figures in six of eight games, including the last five in a row. She scored a season-high 31 points vs. East Tennessee State and has posted single-game career bests in field goals (12 vs. ETSU), steals (7 vs. ETSU) and assists (7 vs. Central Arkansas) already this season. She also notched her first double-double as a Lady Vol and second in her career when she fired in 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds vs. Texas.
Graves, meanwhile, is tied for third on the squad in points per game (11.1) and is second in rebound average (9.0). The senior leads the team in field goal percentage at .714, hitting 30 of 42 shots this season. The 6-2 forward from Clarksville, Tenn., also is third in field goal percentage at .818 and is tied for fifth on the squad with nine assists.
A four-year starter, Graves is tied for the SEC lead in career double-doubles with 24. She has carded three this season, doing so in the season's first three games. Her best game included a career-best 24 points and season-high 13 rebounds vs. Penn State.
DeShields also is on player of the year watch lists for the Wooden Award and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award. This is Graves' first watch list in 2015-16, but she was on Wooden, Wade and Naismith Trophy Watch Lists the past two seasons.
