MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State senior guard Serena Sundell has added to her preseason honors, as she has been named as one of 20 point guards in the nation selected to the 2024-25 Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award – an award that recognizes the top point guard in women’s college basketball.

This is the second straight season Sundell has been named to the watch list for the honor.

Now in its 26th year, the award recognizes the top point guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. To be considered for this prestigious award, candidates must exhibit the floor leadership, playmaking, and ball-handling skills of Class of 1996 Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lieberman.

Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting in each of the three rounds starting Friday, November 1. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2025 Nancy Lieberman Award will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Lieberman and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee, where a winner will be selected.

The 2025 Nancy Lieberman Award winner will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and the Lisa Leslie Award (Center), in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.

Other candidates for the Lieberman Award are: Paige Buecker, UConn; Te-Hina PaoPao, South Carolina; Olivia Miles, Notre Dame; Kiki Rice, UCLA; Georgia Amoore, Kentucky; Raven Johnson, South Carolina; Emily Ryan, Iowa State; Talia von Oelhoffen, USC; Rori Harmon, Texas; Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Jordan Harrison, West Virginia; Lucy Olsen, Iowa; Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State; Katie Dinnebier, Drake; Ines Vieira, Utah; Charlisse Leger-Walker, UCLA; Makira Cook, Illinois; Deja Kelly, Oregon; Taina Mair, Duke.

Sundell, a 2024-25 Preseason All-Big 12 selection, was second on the team in scoring in 2023-24 with 12.1 points per game on a career-best .536 field goal percentage. She led the Big 12 for total assists (189) and assists per game (5.6 apg). The All-American candidate was second for Big 12-only games with 5.7 assists per game, she ranked fourth in league-only games for field goal percentage (.539) and was 12th in conference play for scoring (13.82 ppg).

With her points (411) and assists (189) totals last season, Sundell was the first player in program history and the third Big 12 player since at least 2009-10 to record three seasons with 350 or more points and 150 or more assists.

In her career, Sundell is fourth in school history for career assists with 549 and is second in program history for career assists per game (5.3 apg). She ranks 22nd on the K-State career scoring list with 1,263 points. She is the only player in school history with 1,000 or more career points, 500 or more career assists and 50 or more career blocked shots.

K-State women’s basketball season and single-game tickets are available now. Prices start at just $75 with a Wildcat 4-Pack to see every game in Bramlage. Order now by visiting kstatesports.com/tickets or calling 1-800-221-CATS.

About Nancy Lieberman:
Playing hoops on the rough-and-tumble Harlem courts, Brooklyn-bred Nancy Lieberman learned to play a physical, aggressive style of basketball unlike other women of her time. As a 5’10” point guard, Lieberman was taller than many of the guards of her era, and her ability to drive to the hoop, dish out assists, and grab hard-fought rebounds served her well during her stellar career. She compiled over 2,400 points, 1,100 rebounds, and 961 assists as she led the Lady Monarchs to a 125-15 record, 1 WNIT Title and back to back National Championships in 1979 and 1980 (102-6 her last 3 years).

Before her illustrious career began at ODU, Nancy made the 1975 USA Pan Am team that won the Gold Medal in Mexico City she was a high school junior at Far Rockaway High School at the time. In 1976, as a member of the USA’s first Women’s Olympic Team which won the Silver Medal, Lieberman made history by being the youngest Olympian in basketball ever, male or female (which still stands today). Lieberman then led Old Dominion University to back-to-back AIAW national championships in 1979 and 1980. She was twice named the Wade Trophy winner — a basketball first as the nation’s top female athlete during those two seasons, 3-time All-American. Lieberman was the two-time winner of the Broderick Cup as well., Lieberman played professionally in the first women’s pro league in the WBL 1980-81 and in 1984 in the WABA. Earning WBL MVP honors with the Dallas Diamonds in 1981, she led the team to the 1984 WABA championship and was league MVP.

In 1986, she signed to be the first woman to play in a men’s professional league in the USBL with the Springfield Fame, and in 1987, with the Long Island Knights. She joined the 1987 Harlem Globetrotter world tour with the Washington Generals. 1997 Lieberman made history in the inaugural season of the WNBA, playing for the Phoenix Mercury at the age of 39, and in 2008, playing for the Detroit Shock at age 50! Her coaching career started in 1998 as the Head Coach/GM for the Detroit Shock, taking the Shock to the playoffs in year two. In 2011, she was the first female head coach hired in the NBA D-League for the Dallas Mavericks affiliate, the Texas Legends, and led them to the playoffs. In 2015, she became only the second woman hired as an assistant coach in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings. She was named a recipient of the 2017 Mannie Jackson Basketball’s Human Spirit Award for her on-going philanthropic work across the country through her Nancy Lieberman Charities, changing the lives of underserved youth across the country. In 2018 Nancy Lieberman became the first female head coach in a men’s’s professional league with the BIG3 League for Team Power. Nancy led team Power to a 2018 Championship victory and was selected Coach of the Year, becoming the first female in history to be awarded Coach of the Year. Follow Nancy on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @Nancylieberman and go to nancyliebermancharities.org for more information.