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JOYNER DEDICATES WOMEN’S AWARD TO WILDCATS LEGEND

JOYNER DEDICATES WOMEN’S AWARD TO WILDCATS LEGEND

Nottingham Wildcats’ Jasmine Joyner has won the Women’s Player of the Year in the Basketball Journalists Association’s annual awards for the 2019-20 campaign.

Joyner – who averaged an impressive 19.1 points, 13.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks for the Wildcats – was quick to dedicate her success to Pauline Prior, a basketball icon in the city of Nottingham, who sadly died on 21 February.

“I thank God, first of all for winning this award, with everything happening in this world right now, this is some good news that I like hearing and it makes me miss basketball even more,” Joyner said.

“It’s because of my team-mates that I won this award. They make this game fun, but this award is also for Pauline Prior. 

“We lost a basketball legend and I must say the way we finished the interrupted season was amazing and I know Mrs Prior was with us in spirit, so this is for her.

“Thank you to everyone involved with the Nottingham Wildcats this season, to our amazing fans, thank you. I can’t wait for next season.”   

The former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout led the Women’s British Basketball League in both rebounds and blocks as well as ranking second in scoring, shooting 49 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free throw line.

The Nottingham Wildcats were in fifth place in the Women’s British Basketball League standings with an 11-7 record, before the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Leicester Riders’ Sara Hinriksdottir finished second in voting with last year’s Player of the Year, Catherine Carr from the Sevenoaks Suns coming in third.

The BJA Women’s Player of the Year award is now in its second year, having been introduced last season to further promote women’s basketball in Great Britain.

In 2017, Great Britain’s women finished fourth at EuroBasket Women, and as a result, advanced to the Olympic Qualifiers with hopes of booking a place at the Tokyo Olympics.

However, Great Britain narrowly missed out on qualification by losing all three games but as a result of their achievements, currently rank in the top 20 (18) in the FIBA world rankings. 

Source: Basketball Journalists Association

Image: Mansoor

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