The CWSA Presents Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts With Honda Sports Award For Softball

LOS ANGELES, June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second year in a row, the University of Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts (San Jose, Calif.), has received the Honda Sports Award for softball and becomes a finalist for the 2013 Honda Cup. The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) will present the Honda Cup live on ESPNU, June 24 at the USC Galen Center Founders Room in Los Angeles.

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"It's an amazing honor to represent my team and my sport at the Honda Cup award ceremony for such a prestigious honor.  I would like to thank the Honda Sports Awards voters and my teammates for making this incredible opportunity possible," said Ricketts.

Ricketts led her No 1-ranked Sooners to their second straight Women's College World Series and the 2013 NCAA title. After pitching a career high 12 innings and taking her team to a game one win in its best-of-three final series against Tennessee, she took the night off from the circle in game two, serving as the designated player and hitting a home run with 4 RBIs to help garner the title for the Sooners.  A dominating presence at 6-foot-2, she was 35-1 on the season, starting all 56 games (36 at pitcher and 20 at DP), and earned 2013 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors. Ricketts ranked No. 8 in the nation in ERA (1.23) and No. 6 in strikeouts (350).  She is Oklahoma's all-time strikeout leader, holding records for career, season and single game strikeouts.  In the classroom, she is also a three-time Big 12 Commissioner's honor roll member.

The CWSA presents the Honda Sports Award annually to top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.   Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.5 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs.  With this honor, Ricketts, a senior health and exercise science major, becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the 2013 Honda Cup. She was chosen for the Honda Sports Award by a vote of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Finalists included Oklahoma's Lauren Chamberlain, Arizona State's Amber Freeman, and Tennessee's Lauren Gibson.

Media Contacts:
University of Oklahoma, Assistant Director of Communications
Karl Anderson, 405-325-8571, [email protected]

CWSA Media Team
Lori Okimura, 310-597-1970, [email protected]
Linda Reid, 310-291-9205, [email protected]

SOURCE The Collegiate Women Sports Awards