April 5, 2007

Northwestern's Garland Cooper and Tammy Williams have been named finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year honor, announced today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA).

The 25-player list of finalists was chosen from a watch list of 50 players announced during the preseason, and also took into consideration players not on the watch list who have stood out this year. From the 25 finalists, a list of top-10 finalists will be announced just before the start of the postseason, then from there three finalists will be chosen to travel to the Women's College World Series for the Player of the Year announcement.

The top 25 is comprised of players representing 17 schools and six different NCAA Division I conferences. The list consists of 12 seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores and a red-shirt freshman. Northwestern is one of seven schools with multiple finalists on the list.