Alyssa Thomas named USBWA All-American for third consecutive year

The honors keep piling up for Maryland's star senior forward Alyssa Thomas. The three time ACC Player of the Year was tabbed as an All-American by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. The pick marks the third consecutive year Thomas has received the honor of being selected among the nation's ten best.

Baylor's Odyssey Sims is the only player joining Thomas as a three time traveler on this year's All-American ship. And lest you think that's not such a big deal, the team consists of eight seniors and two sophomores; so six of the seniors are making their first or second appearance on the team.

The rest of the team reads more or less like a list of the usual suspects without Keyser Soze (though he may be hiding somewhere in plain sight). The three UConn stars - Stephanie Dolson, Bria Hartley, and Breanna Stewart - joined two from Notre Dame - Kayla McBride and Jewel Loyd - as the only teammates on the list. Penn State's Maggie Lucas, Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike, and Shoni Schimmel of Louisville round out the squad. For those among you who may not know, Stewart and Loyd are the sophomores.

Three players who are on the twelve player Wade Trophy finalist list did not make the All-America team. They are Jordan Hooper of Nebraska, South Carolina's Tiffany Mitchell, and Florida State senior Natasha Howard.

In late breaking news Tuesday, the Associated Press announced their All-America Teams. The firs team had three unanimous choices, Ogwumike, Sims and Stewart. Alyssa Thomas and Kayla McBride were also voted onto the first team.

Jewel Loyd, Bria Hartley, Stephanie Dolson, Jordan Hooper, and Louisville's Shoni Schimmel comprise the second team for the AP.

Thomas leads the Terps in scoring, rebounds, assists, and steals. Before beginning play in the NCAA Tournament, Thomas stood fifth in the ACC in scoring, second in rebounds and fourth in assists. She also finished eleventh in field goal percentage and tenth in free throw percentage. She recorded double doubles in nineteen of Maryland's twenty-nine regular season games and notched triple doubles in four others. The four triple doubles in a season are one shy of equalling the NCAA record. She recorded her twenty-fourth double double in the Terrapins' loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.

Thomas entered the NCAA Tournament as the all-time leading scorer in Maryland women's basketball history. Before the first game ended, she had passed Juan Dixon as Maryland's all-time leading scorer period. Her 33 points in Sunday's game against Tennessee give her 2,320 for her career, making her the only Terp to surpass 2,300 career points.

She's registered a double double in each of Maryland's three NCAA tournament games averaging 21 points and 13 rebounds. She now has 27 double doubles on the season and 65 for her career. Thomas is one of only three players with six career triple doubles and is one shy of becoming the all time NCAA leader. She has six of the seven triple doubles in Maryland women's basketball history and six of ten all-time in Terrapins' basketball. With 1,216 rebounds, she is only the second Terp to surpass 1,200 for her career and currently stands second to Crystal Langhorne. Thomas is 14 shy of passing Langhorne. She has at least one more game to add to her legacy.