Kansas State senior guard Kayla Goth has added to her preseason honors, as she has been named as one of the 20 point guards in the country selected for the Nancy Lieberman Award.
Now in its twentieth year, the Nancy Lieberman Award recognizes the top point guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. To be considered to this prestigious award, candidates exhibit the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman.
The Selection Committee for the Nancy Lieberman Award is composed of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers. By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2019 Lieberman Award will be narrowed to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. Lieberman and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite finalist at www.hoophallawards.com.
The winner of the 2019 Lieberman Award will be announced in April in Tampa, Florida, in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four and WBCA Convention. Additional awards being presented include the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award, the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award and the Lisa Leslie Center Award, as well as the Wade Trophy, the sport’s oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award which is presented annually by the WBCA’s community of coaches to the best player in college women’s basketball. Broadcast information will be released by ESPN at a later date.
Goth returns for her senior season as the third-highest returning scorer and top returning passer in the Big 12 from the 2017-18 season.
During the 2017-18 season, Goth set career season-highs in every statistical category including points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. Goth’s assist total of 226 (6.6 apg) led the Big 12 and ranked ninth in the nation. Her 226 assists were the second-highest total in school history for a single season and Goth is just the second player in program history with 200 or more assists in a season (Shalee Lehning, twice). She ranked third in the nation last season in assist rate.
In addition to pacing the team in assists, Goth led the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game. Her 596 points ranked second in program history for points by a junior. In the 2017-18 season, Goth was responsible for 53.3 percent of K-State’s made field goals last season and was the only player in the Big 12 responsible for 50.0 percent or more of her team’s made field goals.
The guard from DeForest, Wisconsin, was the first player in school history and just the eighth player in the history of the Big 12 schools to register 500 or more points and 200 or more assists in a season. Her scoring average increase of 11.7 points per game from the 2016-17 season to the 2017-18 season was the second-highest increase from one season to the next in program history.
Goth enters the 2018-19 season on the verge of becoming the 41st player in program history with 1,000 career points, as she needs 157 points to reach the mark. She ranks 13th in program history for career assists and needs 33 assists to move into K-State’s top-10 for career assists.
Kansas State will begin its 2018-19 season with an exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 1, against Fort Hays State at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will begin their non-conference regular season schedule on Monday, Nov. 12, against Omaha at 5:30 p.m.
