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Show By GARY R. BLODGETT SUNSET Jackie Beene McBride just keeps racking up the points and the honors as she stars for the Brigham Young University women's varsity basketball team. THE LATEST, AND most prestigious honor to be bestowed upon the former Clearfield High School eager is being nominated for the coveted Wade award as the most outstanding all-around basketball player in the nation. The Wade award is equivalent to the Heisman trophy awarded to the most prolific collegiate basketball bas-ketball player in the NCAA. JACKIE IS ONE of 30 nominees for the Wade award. The field will be narrowed to about ten and then the top five will be chosen, probably later this month. "It's a tremendous honor to even be nominated for such an award," beamed Jackie's mother. Beth, as she related the good news. "I may be prejudice, but I think Jackie is a great athlete and very deserving of the award." BUT MRS. BEENE isn't the only one to feel that the good-looking 6-foot blonde forward is just about the best woman basketball player ever to come out of the Beehive State. "Most coaches who have seen her play say she is the best in the Intermountain Area and one of the top ten women cagers in the entire nation." according to BYU women's basketball coach. Courtney Leishman. "SHE'S UNDOUBTEDLY one of the best outside jump shooters in all of basketball male or female." he added. Prior to being nominated for the Wade award. Jackie was named "National Player of the Week" by the American Women's Sports Foundation in South Carolina. THIS WAS IN honor of her superb performance in two regional tournaments during which she scored 1 1 1 points that's one-hundred cloven points in only three games, all in a single week and all against top collegiate basketball teams in the nation. It all started in a recent tourney when she scored 37 points against the University of Utah and was chosen as the Most Valuable Plaer (MV T. A FEW NIGHTS later she pumped in 41 points against Washington University and 33 counters against the University of Iowa to round out her 1 1 1 points. She was named MVP for a second time a vci v difficult achievement when playing on a team that did not with either tournament. AND TO SHOW that these games were no "flukes." Jackie earlier tallied 42 points during a tournament in Montana a mark that is just one point shy of the all-time arena scoring record set bv former Utah State University Ail-American Wayne Estes. She also tallied 23 points against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and 30 points against the University Univer-sity of New Nexico. JACKIE, WHO WAS twice named All-Region Seven, is second to Tina Gunn in all-time scoring at BYU with a season average of 23.4 points per game. She is also third in all-time rebounding w it h 7.7 takedowns take-downs per game. Jackie is the 14th leading scorer among all women collegiate cagers. DURING THE WEEK she was chosen "Player of the Week." Jackie hit 41 of 78 field goal attempts most of them from outside 15 feet connected on 29 of 39 four shot attempts, pulled down 34 rebounds, had 17 assists and It steals. But Jackie certainly doesn't let the heroics of her basketball play go to her head. IN FACT, WHEN the modest athlete was'called to center court at BYU to receive her National Player of the Week trophy, she blushed with embarrassment embarrass-ment while her husband Brent, and parents. Jimmy and Beth, beamed with pride. |