The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the five finalists for the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award, in partnership with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Friday afternoon. Virginia Tech graduate student Elizabeth Kitley was amongst those honored by the Hall of Fame. The other four finalists are Cameron Brink (Stanford), Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina), Mackenzie Holmes (Indiana) and Raegan Beers (Oregon State).
The Lisa Leslie Award, in its seventh year, recognizes the top center in Division I women’s college basketball. It is named after the three-time All-American, 1994 National Player of the Year, and Class of 2015 Hall of Famer.
Kitley was named the ACC’s Player of the Year for the third consecutive season earlier this week, becoming the third woman in ACC history to win the award in three consecutive seasons, joining Alana Beard (Duke) and Alyssa Thomas (Maryland).
The Summerfield, North Carolina native ranks second in the conference in scoring (22.79), second in field goal percentage (55.6%), first in rebounds (11.38), second in blocks (2.07), first in double-doubles (19) and first in 30-point games with eight.
She won ACC Player of the Week six times, the most of any athlete, including a stretch of four consecutive weeks in February. The six POW honors ties Beard for the most in any single season in conference history.
With her Player of the Year Award comes a fourth first team All-ACC nod, just the second player in conference history to accomplish the feat (Duke’s Elizabeth Williams). Kitley was also recognized as an All-Defensive Team member for the third consecutive season.
Nationally, Kitley ranks second in field goals, trailing only Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. She is sixth in points per game, rebounds per game and double-doubles.
She has claimed the top spot in several categories in the Virginia Tech annals this season including: starts, minutes played, double figure games, 30-point games and rebounds, which is also an ACC watermark.
In terms of single-season achievements, the 2023-24 season has seen Kitley produce the highest scoring average in program history, score the most field goals and come within six points of the record for single season scoring.
Additionally, she was named the Kay Yow Scholar Athlete of the Year for the third time this week.
Fans can support their favorite player by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, March 8, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
