Jones and Rowe earn spot on Naismith Women's Early Season watch list

• Naismith Women's Basketball Player of the Year Early Season Watch List

ATLANTA, Ga. - Middle Tennessee's Kortni Jones and Ebony Rowe were selected to the Naismith Women's Basketball College Player of the Year early season watch list as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Thursday.

The 50 player watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2012‐2013 college basketball season.

The Naismith Women's College Player of the Year presented by AT&T will be awarded on April 8, 2013, in New Orleans, La.

Rowe has made two impressive seasons as a Blue Raider. She became the second Blue Raider sophomore to reach 1,000 points. The Lexington, Ky., product has totaled 64 double-figuring scoring games. On Wednesday, Rowe moved into fifth all-time at MT with 34 career double-doubles after totaling a season-best 24 points and 16 rebounds in the loss at Iowa.

Earlier this week, the junior was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week for the ninth time in her career --- only three shy of conference and school all-time leader Alysha Clark's 12. Rowe also earned the first ever Tennessee Sports Writers Association Women's Basketball Player of the Week accolade. Rowe is posting 22 points and 11.3 rebounds in three games.

Jones also managed a spot on the list after a record-setting season beyond the arch last year.
The Oak Ridge native set a school record with 115 made triples, moving her to 10th all-time on the NCAA single-season chart. Jones had double scoring performances in 31 of 33 games last season. Jones moved into seventh all-time at MT with her trifecta of triples against the Iowa Hawkeyes. This season, she is averaging 16.7 points per game with a team-high 10 treys.

In late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors will compile a mid‐season team of the top 30 players in the nation. In March, the Naismith Trophy voting academy will vote to narrow the list to the four finalists.

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