Feb. 6, 2013

VOTE FOR LAYSHIA

BERKELEY - California senior guard Layshia Clarendon been selected as a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award for women's basketball, presented annually in eight NCAA Division 1 Sports to a senior student-athlete who excels both on and off the field. Candidates are chosen based on their dedication and achievement in four areas: Classroom, Character, Community and Competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Clarendon is the only men's or women's basketball student-athlete from the Pac-12 to be named a finalist for the collegiate basketball award.

The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates that were announced in October. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner with Clarendon's individual page accessible at "http://www.seniorclassaward.com/athletes/layshia_clarendon/". Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website or on the Senior CLASS Award Facebook fan page through March 25. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner.

The women's winner will be announced during the NCAA Women's Final Four® in New Orleans April 7 and 9.

Clarendon leads the No. 6 Golden Bears at 14.9 points per game to go with her 4.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists. A Wade Watch list member and CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, Clarendon became just the 10th Golden Bear to crack the 1,500 career-points milestone. The team leader is also a Naismith candidate and a front-runner for Pac-12 Player of the Year honors.

Clarendon helped lead California to an NCAA Second Round berth and Pac-12 runner-up finish last season in addition to being named a WBCA All-American for the first time in her career. The All-Region VIII honoree was also named to the All-Pac-12 first team, averaging 12.8 ppg. After scoring 20 points in the conference final against Stanford, she was also named to the All-Pac-12 Tournament team. Clarendon will head into the 2012-13 campaign 138 points shy of being in the top-10 in program history in career points scored (1,230).

Clarendon has twice earned All-Academic honors from the conference and is on track to graduate in May 2013 with a major in American Studies with a concentration on Gender and Media at the No. 1 public institution in the country. The senior led the California women's basketball team in grade-point average last spring and has become the team's leader by voice and by example.

Women's Finalists
Brittany Chambers, Kansas State
Layshia Clarendon, California
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame
Jacqui Kalin, Northern Iowa
Kevi Luper, Oral Roberts
Anna Martin, DePaul
Drey Mingo, Purdue
Chelsea Poppens, Iowa State
Jaime Printy, Iowa