HOUSTON – Rice senior center Nancy Mulkey earned a spot among the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalists, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Tuesday.
 
Mulkey has carved out a spot on multiple national player of the year lists, including the Top-10 for the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List honoring the nation’s top center. Mulkey currently ranks third among all active NCAA Division I players in career blocks (281) and is fifth in blocked shots average (2.93 bpg). This season Mulkey leads all of C-USA in blocked shots (48-18th in NCAA) and blocks per game (3.20-5th in NCAA).
 
Mulkey, who has blocked three or more shots in a game seven times this season, anchors a Rice defense that ranks eighth in the NCAA in field-goal percentage defense (34.1). In addition, Mulkey ranks fourth in the NCAA in field goal percentage (60.7) and is averaging 16.3 points per game.
 
The Atlanta Tipoff Club will narrow the list to four finalists on March 11 and announce the 2021 Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year on April 3.
 
The first place Owls (13-2, 9-1) return home this weekend to host Louisiana Tech Feb. 26-27 at Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year 2021 Semifinalists
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Veronica Burton, Northwestern
Charli Collier, Texas
Elissa Cunane, NC State
Natasha Mack, Oklahoma State
Aari McDonald, Arizona
Nancy Mulkey, Rice
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn
Chasity Patterson, Kentucky
DiDi Richards, Baylor