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Breanna Stewart step closer to repeat Wooden Award win

Senior Breanna Stewart, who has helped UConn to a 61-game winning streak and three consecutive national championships, headlines the Wooden Award late-season Top 20 list, which was released Wednesday.

Stewart, who won the award last year, is averaging 19.9 points and 8.3 rebounds this season. She is one of three Huskies on the list -- senior Moriah Jefferson (14.0 points per game, 5.7 assists per game) and junior Morgan Tuck (13.7 ppg) also made the top 20.

Two of the nation's top three scoring leaders made the cut: Washington's Kelsey Plum, who ranks second in the country at 27.1 points per game, and Minnesota's Rachel Banham, who ranks third at 26.4. Banham recently tied the NCAA Division I single-game scoring record with 60 points in a double-overtime victory over Northwestern on Feb. 7.

UCLA's Jordin Canada, one of six sophomores on the list, made the late-season Top 20 despite not being included on January's midseason list.

Wednesday's list also includes seven seniors and seven juniors. The Big Ten leads all conferences with seven representatives.

Three other schools -- Maryland, Ohio State and South Carolina -- had multiple players on the list. Juniors Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough made the cut for the Terrapins. Senior Ameryst Alston and sophomore Kelsey Mitchell (fourth in the nation in scoring at 24.6 ppg) represent the Buckeyes. And the Gamecocks have senior Tiffany Mitchell and sophomore A'ja Wilson on the top 20.

The national award winner and a five-player All-America team will be named after the 2016 Final Four in Indianapolis in April.

Stewart could become the fifth player to win the award multiple times. LSU's Seimone Augustus (2005, '06), Tennessee's Candace Parker (2007, '08), Maya Moore (2009, '11) and Brittney Griner (2012, '13) were two-time winners.

Duke's Alana Beard won the inaugural award in 2004.