Baylor's Brittney Griner has been awarded the Full Court Player of the Year Award (Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE)

Brittney Griner and Elizabeth Williams take top honors on the 2012 Full Court All-American and Freshmen All-American Teams

DENVER, CO - Full Court has selected our National Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year for the 2011-2012 women’s college basketball season, along with our NCAA Division I All-American and Freshmen All-American teams.

Baylor’s Brittney Griner, who last year was edged out by Connecticut Husky Maya Moore, moved up one spot to take Full Court's 2012 National Player of the Year honors by a margin of 217 to 196 points (out of a possible 225) over Stanford’s Nnemkadi Ogwumike for National Player of the Year in balloting by Full Court correspondents and analysts from across America.

Duke’s Elizabeth Williams took Full Court 2012 Freshman of the Year honors by a much narrower margin (209 to 206 points, again out of a possible 225) over Connecticut’s Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis.  A factor that may have influenced voters could have been that Williams was a starter and has led Duke in scoring for most of the year while Mosqueda-Lewis has been coming off the bench for almost the entire season, though her impact appeared to be growing as conference play concluded.   

Read on to see who else earned this year's top honors.

Full Court 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Player of the Year: Brittney Griner, Baylor University

Comments: A few years ago, while watching the 6-8 dunking sensation, then still in her prep years, one writer observed, “There’s Griner, and there is everybody else!” 

Three years later, some might argue that given the development of her game from her high school years through performance this season as a college junior, the gap between Brittney Griner and just about all other college players has only grown in the interim. And the difference goes way beyond the dunk.

Griner's growth is perhaps best epitomized by her dominating performance in Baylor's recent 83-68 rout of a solid Georgia Tech team ranked No. 15/13 in the national polls: Griner was nothing short of spectacular, leading Baylor back to the Elite Eight with a complete game that included 35 points on 13-of-18 (72.2 percent) field-goal shooting, 10 rebounds, six blocks, two assists (one of them a particular deft and well-timed dish that found Baylor point guard Odyssey Sims right on the dime) and two steals. And, oh yes, a dunk -- a two-handed monster of a slam, with a brief swing on the rim for added emphasis, that matched the record set by Candace Parker for both collegiate career (seven) and NCAA Tournament (two) dunks.

The remarkable thing is that, apart from the dunk (her two in this year's NCAA Tournament were the first of the season, as Griner has instead focused on her prodigious shot-blocking skills), this was no one-off performance by the Baylor star. Griner took both the Big 12 Player of the Year and its Defensive Player of the Year honors behind an average of 23.4 points per game on a sizzling 344-563 (61.1 percent) from the field, plus 9.4 rebounds, 5.2 blocks, and 1.7 assists per game. 

True, a critic might argue that Griner's rebounding should be even better given her 6-8 height, or that she lacks the three-point range that some of the top college post players command.  But all that shows is that Griner still has room to grow her game.

What she has done and continues to do is be the greatest defensive force in the key that the women’s college game has ever seen.  This Baylor forward-center not only largely nullifies the in-paint attack of the opposition's low-post players, with her long arms and shot-altering ability, she also causes the opposition guards to develop false reads as to what looks open in driving toward the rim. 

On the opposite side of the ball, Griner's offensive domination is starting to approach her long-recognized defensive presence. Griner has vastly improved her range, her array of shots, her low-post moves and footwork, and her passing, handling and foul-shooting skills over her past three years at Baylor. As her coach Kim Mulkey pointed out after Tennessee tried -- and failed -- to do exactly that in the DesMoines Regional Final, where Griner was named Most Outstanding Player earlier this week, "You can't guard Brittney Griner man-to-man. You sure can't guard her one-on-one." Opposition double-teams of Griner often result in other Lady Bears being left open.

Television commentators are beginning to refer to Griner as the best center in the world. She is likely to find a berth on this year’s U.S. Olympic team and should be a U.S. National team member for years to come.  However, let us not put too much pressure on Griner in the effort to predict how she will stack up against the world's greatest post players. In time, Griner certainly has a chance to be the best in the world, but let us give her a chance to fully complete her maturation from YouTube curiosity as the "high school girl who dunks" to world superstar,  before rushing to judgment. If Griner returns to Baylor for her senior year, such judgments would be based at most on an incomplete two-week snapshot of a still-developing talent's international debut against first-class opponents, most of whom have been playing at the professional level for years.

For now, Griner is, by heavy consensus, the best player in NCAA Division I women's basketball. Her own focus is set steadfastly on the goal of helping win an NCAA title for the Lady Bears. And while Griner certainly has every likelihood of becoming at least one of the greats in the history of the game, let's give her a chance to see if she can realize that goal before weighing in on her future legacy.

2011-2012 Full Court NCAA Division I Women's Basketball All-American Teams

Editor's Note: Please note that the following selections represent the player’s body of work for the season through the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament Round of 32 with accomplishment taking precedence over position (center, forward, guard) on all teams. Within each team, players are listed alphabetically.

Full Court First Team All-American: Elena Delle Donne, University of Delaware Comments: Delle Donne possesses the rare combination of the size and body type of the Seattle Storm’s Lauren Jackson, and the creative guard skills of the Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi. The top scorer in the NCAA's Division I this season, Delle Donne powered the Fighting Blue Hens to an undefeated Colonial Athletic Conference record, their first-ever top-10 national ranking, and a debut in the NCAA Tournament. (Photo courtesy of the University of Delaware.)

Full Court First Team All-American: Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame Comments: Skylar Diggins has been a prolific scorer for a few years but this year as lead guard she has improved her assist-to-turnover ratio to close to 2:1 while leading the Fighting Irish to the Big East regular-season title and a return to the Final Four. (Photo by Matt Cashore/Courtesy Notre Dame Athletics Media Relations.)

First Team All-American: Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford University Comments: Nnemkadi Ogwumike, the only senior selected and like Brittney Griner a repeat Full Court All-American first-team honoree, has been the premier player in the PAC-12 (formerly PAC-10) Conference for the last two seasons. This year the PAC-12 Player of the Year added more range to her inside dominance, averaging a team and league-high 22.5 points plus 10.8 rebounds per game to lead the Cardinal to its eighth consecutive PAC-12 title and a fifth-straight trip to the NCAA Final Four. (Photo by Lee Michaelson/Full Court.com.)

First Team All-American: Alyssa Thomas, University of Maryland Comments: Alyssa Thomas, the only sophomore on the first team, may be the least known of the five but her contribution to her Maryland Terrapins need not take a back seat to anyone. Leading the top-10 ranked Terps in scoring (17.2 ppg), and second on the team in both rebounding (8.0 rbg) and assists (3.2 apg), Thomas became the first underclassman in league history to reap both ACC regular-season Player of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP honors in the same season. (Photo courtesy University of Maryland Athletics.)

Full Court All-American Second Team: Tiffany Hayes, University of Connecticut As the only senior on a young Connecticut team, Hayes helped the Huskies to a Big East Tournament title and a fifth-straight appearance in the Final Four. Hayes averaged 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in her senior season. (Photo by Steve Slade/Courtesy Connecticut Athletics Media Relations.)
Full Court All-American Second Team: A'dia Mathies, University of Kentucky Comments: Mathies, the offensive centerpiece on a Wildcat team known more for its defense, earned SEC Player of the Year honors, averaging a team-high 15 points, to go with 5.1 rebounds, 2.6 steals, and nearly two assists per game, to help Kentucky take its first regular-season conference title. (Photo by Chet White/UK Athletics.)	Full Court All-American Second Team: Natalie Novosel, Notre Dame Comments: Novosel, the second-leading scorer for the Irish (15.3 ppg), can score both off the dribble-drive and from the perimeter. Her outside shot (42 percent from three-point range) commands respect from the opposition, helping take some additional pressure off Skylar Diggins and aiding the Irish to the regular-season Big East title and a return to the Final Four. (Photo by Maria Massa/Courtesy Notre Dame Athletics Media Relations.)
Full Court All-American Second Team: Samantha Prahalis, Ohio State University Comments:  Prahalis, who made our list last year by combining with Jantel Lavender to give the Buckeyes one of the most potent inside-outside games in the country, teamed with Tayler Hill this season to form one of the best backcourt tandems in the land. The highly entertaining but sometimes combustible Prahalis, named this season's Big Ten Player of the Year, averaged 19.8 points per game while still finding time to dish out an average of 6.3 assists. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Ohio State Athletics.)	Full Court All-American Second Team: Odyssey Sims, Baylor University Comments: Sims, last season's Full Court Freshman of the Year, added maturity to her game while helping her Lady Bears thoroughly dominate the Big 12 Conference and move on to the Final Four tournament with a perfect 38-0 record to date. (Photo by Robert Rogers/Courtesy Baylor University.)

Full Court All-American Third Team: Bria Hartley, University of Connecticut Hartley, a Full Court Freshman All-American last year, served as the Huskies' lead guard for much of this year while maintaining her status as one of the team’s leading scorers, averaging 13.9 points per game with a shooting percentage of 46.8 from the field and 32.6 percent from beyond the arc. (Photo by Steve Slade/Courtesy Connecticut Athletics Media Relations.)
Full Court All-American Third Team: Shenise Johnson, University of Miami Comments: Shenise Johnson returns as a Full Court All-American honoree after leading the Hurricanes in scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.8), helping carry the 'Canes to a top-10 national ranking for much of the season. (Photo by JC Ridley/Miami Hurricanes.)	Full Court All-American Third Team: Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford University Comments: Chiney Ogwumike, another Full Court Freshman All-American last year, joins our All-American third team as a sophomore, after she and sister Nnemkadi Ogwumike (a Full Court first-team All-American) combined to form one of the most powerful interior front lines in women’s college basketball this year. Chiney averaged 15 points , 10.1 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game in her sophomore season. (Photo by Don Feria/isiphotos.com/Courtesy Stanford Athletics Media Relations.)
Full Court All-American Third Team: Shekkina Stricklen, University of Tennessee Comments: Stricklen returns to our list after leading the Lady Vols to yet another SEC Tournament title and an Elite Eight NCAA Tournament run with a team-high 15.4 points per game on 43.4-percent shooting from the field, including 35.2 percent from long range. (Photo by Lee Michaelson/FullCourt.com.)	Full Court All-American Third Team: Julie Wojta, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay Comments: Wojta, the Horizon League Player of the Year, Wojta led the Phoenix to conference regular-season and tournament titles while filling up her stat sheet with an impressive 19.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.6 steals per game (Photo by (Mike Roemer/AP/Courtesy Green Bay Athletics)

Full Court NCAA Division I National Freshman of the Year: Elizabeth Williams, Duke

Duke Freshman (No. 1) Elizabeth Williams is both the Full Court and the ACC Freshman of the Year after leading the Blue Devils to a conference regular-season title and a deep NCAA Tournament run with a team-high 14 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. (Photo courtesy of Duke Athletics.)

Comments: In describing Duke’s Elizabeth Williams, words like intelligent, athletic, hard-working, focused, consistent, non-flashy and unflappable spring to mind. After she helped lead the Blue Devils to an Elite Eight NCAA Tournament while playing on a stress fracture in her lower right leg, "gutsy" should be added to the list.

Williams does the little things well. She makes blue-collar look fashionable and all that is difficult in the paint appear simple.

The Virginia Beach-area prep star was certainly no secret coming out of high school: Featured on all national scouting service reports for the class of 2011, Williams finished either first or second for just about all the national prep basketball awards her senior year. She was a mainstay for the gold-medal USA 17-and-under-team in the summer of 2011as well as on the U.S. U16 squad the summer before on.

Not one to rest on her laurels, as a collegiate player, Williams has added range to her game since her time as a prep player. When the ACC regular season had concluded, she earned first team All-ACC, All-ACC Defensive Team and ACC Freshman of the Year honors for her efforts on the court. Williams also excels in the classroom, earning selection to the All-ACC Academic Team. With her father a medical doctor and her mother a nurse, Williams aspires to be a doctor.

Want to add one more word to describe Elizabeth Williams? Winner!

2011-2012 Full Court NCAA Division I Women’s Freshman All-American Team

Full Court Freshman All-American First Team: Rachel Banham, Minnesota Comments: Banham, the Golden Gophers' point guard, also became the team's leading scorer (16.1 ppg) and one of its most consistent rebounders (5.2 rbg) to garner Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in a conference packed with talented first-year players. (Photo by Christopher Miller/Courtesy Minnesota Athletic Communications.)	Full Court Freshman All-American First Team: Bria Goss, Kentucky Comments: Goss, who averaged a team-second-best 11 points per game. while handing out roughly two assists per game and playing a tenacious and energetic defense, was named SEC Freshman of the Year for her role in helping the Wildcats win the SEC regular-season crown. (Photo by Chet White/UK Athletics.)
Full Court Freshman All-American First Team: Ariel Massengale, Tennessee Comments: So badly did the Lady Vols need to upgrade their arsenal at the lead guard position, Pat Summitt anointed Massengale the Lady Vols' new point guard on national television last spring before the talented rookie had even arrived on campus. To her credit, the Bolingbrook, Illinois product did not disappoint helping to lead the Lady Vols to this spring’s SEC Tournament crown while leading the nation’s freshman lead guards in assist-to-turnover ratio at better than 2:1. (Photo Courtesy University of Tennessee Media Relations.)	Full Court Freshman All-American First Team: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Connecticut Comments: Mosqueda-Lewis may have been a bench player, but by year's end, she was the second leading scorer for top-five-ranked UConn, averaging 15 points per game on 43.3-percent field-goal shooting, 38.9 percent from the arc, and 82.7 percent from the charity stripe, to go with an average of 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists and a little more than one steal per game, taking home the Big East's Sixth Player and Freshman of the Year Awards as well as the trophy for Most Outstanding Player in the Big East Tournament. It appears she will continue to duel Duke’s Williams for individual honors in college, just as the two did in their prep days. (Photo by Steve Slade/Courtesy Connecticut Athletics Media Relations.)