Sancho Lyttle Is 2013 Women’s Player of the Year

Munich, Feb 07, 2014: Sancho Lyttle has been voted as the 2013 FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year, completing a double for Spanish women’s basketball in the 2013 FIBA Europe Player of the Year awards.

Following on from the announcement of Astou Ndour as the 2013 FIBA Europe Young Women’s Player of the Yearon Thursday, the awarding of Women’s Player of the Year to Lyttle is a fitting tribute, given the nature in which Spanish women’s teams dominated FIBA Europe events in 2013, winning gold at EuroBasket Women, U20 Women,U18 Women and U16 Women.

Fellow Spaniard and Galatasaray teammate Alba Torrens finished second in the voting whilst FrenchwomanSandrine Gruda rounded out the top three.

It was the EuroBasket Women stage in France which Lyttle chose as hers to shine brightly upon, becoming both literally and figuratively, the center of the Spanish gold-medal winning effort.

Lyttle was the undisputed queen of the paint in France, leading the tournament in scoring (18.4 points per game), rebounding (11.1 rebounds-per-game), steals (2.9 per game) and double-doubles (seven in nine games).

It was therefore fitting to hear the announcer calling the 30-year-old to step forward and accept the tournament MVP award, to go with her place on the All-Tournament team.

“It was a wonderful summer for Spanish women’s basketball,” stated FIBA Europe Acting President Cyriel Coomans, continuing, “so it is therefore of little surprise to see Spaniards winning both of the women’s awards this year.

“I want to congratulate Sancho on earning this award and I look forward to watching her continue to flourish for a number of years yet.”

Adding to the words of Acting President Coomans, FIBA Europe Secretary General Kamil Novak claimed that, “FIBA Europe likes to award people for their hard work, and it is therefore fitting for this award to go to Lyttle, a tireless worker on the court who, for me, epitomised the ideals of hard work at EuroBasket Women.”

As already mentioned, Lyttle’s award follows on from Astou Ndour claiming 2013 FIBA Europe Young Women’s Player of the Year on Thursday. Also announced on Thursday, was Dario Saric as 2013 FIBA Europe Young Men’s Player of the Year.

FIBA Europe will announce in due course when and where the award will be presented.

The final award recipient will be known later on Friday when FIBA Europe announces the 2013 Men’s Player of the Year.

FIBA EUROPE WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2013 FINAL VOTING

*The accumulated ranking reflects a combination of the fan and expert voting. —- Fibaeurope