Beard leads Taurasi in familiar battle for Naismith

In the coming weeks, the Naismith National Advisory Board will vote for one of 10 finalists to be named the Naismith Female College Basketball Player of the Year. With such names as Bobby Knight and Dick Vitale, the board includes men and women prominently known for their contribution to college basketball.

Though there are 10 finalists, the race this year seems all too familiar and will primarily come down to Connecticut's Diana Taurasi and Duke's Alana Beard.

Last year's winner, Taurasi, is hoping to join an elite group of players that have won the award more than once. And like in 2003, Beard is giving Taurasi a run for her money.

But unlike last year, in 2004 Beard's team won the head-to-head matchup, in which she scored a game-high 21 points in the Blue Devils' come-from-behind win over Taurasi's Huskies. Beard's spectacular effort and leadership during that game gave Duke the edge down the stretch, when it mattered most. She scored 20 points in the second half alone, sparking the Blue Devil comeback.

Averaging 20.8 points per game, Duke's tri-captain has had 15 20-point games this season, including contests against national powers Purdue, North Carolina, and Connecticut.

Another factor in Beard's advantage is the strength of the Blue Devils' schedule this year. In ESPN.com's unofficial RPI poll, Duke has the third toughest schedule in the NCAA, only behind Tennessee and Penn State; Connecticut is ranked ninth. Also, the Big East is the fifth most difficult conference; whereas, the ACC is ranked third. In its non-conference games, Duke has played the three other highly ranked teams: Texas, Tennessee and Connecticut. The Huskies have not played Texas in the regular season, and the team's non-conference games were easy wins early in the season.

With Duke's more competitive schedule and the impressive statistics Beard has posted this season, she seems to be the favorite. However, other factors will likely play an important role. While the Blue Devils pulled out a last-minute miracle, the Huskies outplayed Duke for most of the game.

Further, Connecticut--benefitting from the proximity of the New York and Boston major media markets--attracts more coverage than Duke.

Consequently, since many of the voters on the board are journalists, they are perhaps more familiar with Taurasi.

However, there is no question that Beard is one of the best players in the nation. After Duke's game against Clemson, head coach Jim Davis, when asked if Beard was, in his mind, the best player in the country, he believed she was.

"Yes, without a doubt," he said. "If I were a WNBA coach, Alana Beard would be my number one draft choice."

N.C. State's head coach Kay Yow, who also serves on the Naismith board, concurred.

"[Beard] is right up there at the top," she said.

Fellow teammate and Naismith finalist Iciss Tillis commented on her hope that Beard is recognized for her outstanding performance at Duke.

"I pray to God all the time that Alana wins Player of the Year," Tillis said. "She works so hard. She's my friend, one of my best friends, and I just like to see someone who works so hard and is as passionate about the game as Alana is to win the whole thing. She's a great player, so I just don't understand why she wouldn't win. It bothers me. It bothered me last year that she didn't get it."

However, Beard keeps a level head about the her honors and accomplishments and keeps in mind that the season is not over.

"We'll decide whether or not it's been my best season at the end," Beard said.