ATLANTA, Ga -- Vanderbilt senior Chantelle Anderson, Duke junior Alana Beard, Connecticut junior Diana Taurasi and Mississippi State senior LaToya Thomas have been voted the top four vote-getters for the preseason 2002-03 Naismith College Women's Basketball Player of the Year award.

NAISMITH CANDIDATES

Chantelle Anderson, Vanderbilt Jacqueline Batteast, Notre Dame Alana Beard, Duke Kara Braxton, Georgia Coretta Brown, North Carolina Shameka Christon, Arkansas Crissy Floyd, Clemson Catrina Frierson, Louisiana Tech Vanessa Hayden, Florida Caton Hill, Oklahoma Ebony Hoffman, Southern Cal Nicole Ohlde, Kansas State Gwen Jackson, Tennessee Temeka Johnson, LSU Kara Lawson, Tennessee Kelly Mazzante, Penn State Jocelyn Penn, South Carolina Nicole Powell, Stanford Alicia Ratay, Notre Dame Aiysha Smith, LSU Stacy Stephens, Texas Brianne Stepherson, Boston College Diana Taurasi, Connecticut Brandi Teamer, Virginia LaToya Thomas, Mississippi State Iciss Tillis, Duke Kendra Wecker, Kansas State Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota Lindsey Wilson, Iowa state Shereka Wright, Purdue

The entire list of all 30 candidates for the award were released Monday by Jackie Bradford, president of the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

A three-time Kodak All-American, Thomas enters her senior season with 2,187 points and as Mississippi State's career scoring leader for both men and women. Thomas, who has earned her third consecutive preseason Naismith nomination, ranked second among the nation's scoring leaders (24.6 average) en route to claiming her third consecutive SEC scoring title last season.

Beard, a two-time preseason Naismith candidate, was an Associated Press first-team and Kodak All-American last season after leading the ACC in scoring (19.8), field-goal percentage (.572) and steals (3.3).

Taurasi, also a member of last season's Kodak All-America squad, helped lead the Huskies to a perfect 39-0 season and the 2002 national championship. She was second on the team in scoring (14.5) and grabbed 4.1 rebounds per game.

Anderson led Vanderbilt in scoring with a 20.7 average. The Kodak All-American also was the SEC's most accurate shooter for the second consecutive season, sinking 64.7 percent of her shots from the field, which ranked second in the nation. Anderson, the second Commodore to top 2,000 points, enters her senior season with 2,023 career points.

UConn's Sue Bird won the award last year.

Now in its 35th year, the Naismith Awards program honors the outstanding college basketball players in the United States. The awards program was founded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of student-athletes in basketball.

The candidates were selected by a vote of the Board of Selectors comprised of leading basketball coaches, journalists and basketball analysts.