Cooke Named a Finalist for Dawn Staley Award
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior Zia Cooke is one of four finalists for the 2023 Dawn Staley Award, the Phoenix Club of Philadelphia announced over the weekend. She is the fourth Gamecock guard to be a finalist for the award, joining Destanni Henderson and award winners Tyasha Harris (2020) and Tiffany Mitchell (2015).
A First-Team All-SEC selection for the second time in her career, Cooke is 10th in the SEC with a team-best 15.3 points per game and is shooting a career-best 40.8 percent from the field, which ranks 12th in the league. Playing the fewest minutes of her career at 26.4 per game, she is scoring a career-best 23.1 points per 40 minutes. Cooke leads the team with seven 20-point games this season, including her sterling 24-point outing in the SEC Tournament championship game over the weekend, which also included three steals and five rebounds to lead the Gamecocks to their seventh title at the event. The effort was her 100th double-figure scoring game in 132 career outings.
Established in 2013, the Dawn Staley Award is given annually to the player who exemplifies the skills that Staley possessed throughout her career – ball-handling, scoring, ability to distribute the ball and will to win. The winner will be announced as part of a virtual presentation on Thu., April 6.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s basketball season.
2023 Dawn Staley Award Finalists
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Zia Cooke, South Carolina
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Haley Jones, Stanford
