Oklahoma State’s Natasha Mack named 2021 WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year

ATLANTA (April 1, 2021) — Oklahoma State University’s Natasha Mack is the 2021 WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced today.

The Defensive Player of the Year award honors the best defensive women's basketball player in all of NCAA Division I. All conference defensive players of the year in NCAA Division I are considered for the award. If a conference does not select a defensive player of the year, the conference office can nominate one player to be considered.

“Natasha Mack has been a consistent defensive force for Oklahoma State and has earned the highest respect from opposing coaches and players. She is a gifted and hard-working student-athlete who has demonstrated determination, intensity, effort and teamwork at the highest level,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. "We celebrate Natasha and appreciate her contribution to her team as well as to the game of women’s basketball.”

The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous Big 12 All-Defensive Team and first-team all-league selection, Mack has been a force at both ends of the floor for the Cowgirls. The 6-foot-4 senior forward from Lufkin, Texas, leads the country with 112 blocked shots, and her 4.0 blocks per contest is also the nation's best. Mack is ranked third in the country with 9.2 defensive rebounds per game and is second with 19 double-doubles. She ranks 55th in the country with 56 steals as well.

The WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year award began in 2007.

Visit www.wbca.org/recognize/ to see a list of past recipients.

About the WBCA
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.

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