After being a guest on Tuesday’s episode of Beach Sports Radio @ The Nugget, women’s basketball senior Lauren Sims was selected as one of 30 women’s basketball candidates for the 2009-10 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Coincidence? We think not.
Sims is coming off a stellar 2008-09 season in which she earned All-Big West honorable mention recognition after finishing second among 49er starters with 9.1 points per game. A team captain, Sims reached double figures in scoring 11 times, including a career-high 22 points at Cal State Northridge. As a sophomore, Sims led the conference in 3-point accuracy at 38.2 percent.
The 5-foot-9 guard currently ranks fourth on the LBSU career charts in 3-point field goals made (98) and is sixth in 3-point field goals attempted (271) and 3-point field goal percentage (36.2 percent).
Sims, who was recently chosen as Long Beach State’s 2009-10 Rhodes Scholar candidate, is a biology-physiology major with a minor in chemistry. She has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average and has been the epitome of the student-athlete since she arrived at Long Beach State. The Principal’s Honor Roll and Golden Key International Honors Society member was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The MagazineAcademic All-District VIII Team in each of the last two seasons. She is also a two-time Big West Conference all-academic selection and was LBSU’s 2008-09 Big West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In addition to her work in the classroom and on the court, Sims has dedicated countless hours to community service activities. She has volunteered with St. Mary’s Medical Center Clinical Care Extender Hospital, Southern California Special Olympics and the Long Beach Marathon. She was also an organizer in the Big West Charity Coin Drive.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their community.
The award’s winner is selected based on a combination of four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition. The list of candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, with the winner being announced at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in April.
Long Beach State opens the 2009-10 campaign with an exhibition game against Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday, Nov. 8, at noon in The Gold Mine. The 49ers return to the court on Friday (Nov. 13) for their official season opener against Prairie View A&M. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. PT in the Walter Pyramid.
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