Maya Moore named USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year
Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx is the 2014 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, USA Basketball announced Tuesday.
Moore's incredible 2014 was capped off with a gold medal with Team USA at the FIBA World Championships, where she was named the tournament's most valuable player after averaging 15.3 points per game, according to WCCO.
The U.S. is 56-2 with Moore on the team.
“I’m so fortunate to be around the best in the world through USA Basketball,” Moore said in a statement, according to the Star Tribune. “It was a true privilege to contribute to an awesome team again this year at the world championship.’’
Moore's coach on Team USA, Geno Auriemma, who also coached her at the University of Connecticut, couldn't say enough nice things about Moore.
"Maya is just relentless,” Auriemma told USA Basketball. “Her incredible level of competitiveness and the energy that she brings is second to none, and she just finds a way to be on winning teams. That (gold-medal) game against Spain is the perfect example of how valuable she is and how she can set the tone for the entire game. Maya has had an incredible pro career since she left UConn, and she had an incredible career with USA Basketball and she’s not finished yet; I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in the future.”
Moore also helped the Lynx reach the WNBA's Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the Phoenix Mercury. She led the league in scoring with 23.9 points per game and was later crowned the WNBA MVP.