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March 31, 2006

Knoxville, Tenn. - Freshman basketball star Candace Parker has been named the edamerica Lady Vol Athlete of the Month for the month of March. Parker led Tennessee to its 12th SEC Championship and the programs 18th Elite Eight appearance. Over the seven game stretch in the month of March she averaged 21.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per contest.

The 6-4 forward earned first team All-SEC honors, was named to the SEC all-freshman team and became the fourth Lady Vol to earn SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Her game-winning shot lifted Tennessee to a 63-62 victory against top-seeded Louisiana State in the SEC Championship and earned her tournament MVP honors. She became just the second rookie in league history to pick up top-freshman and tournament MVP in the same year.

Against Army on March 19, the Naperville, Ill., native became the first female to dunk during an NCAA tournament game and the first female to dunk twice in a single collegiate contest. She averaged 22.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per outing during the NCAA Tournament and was named to the All-Region team in the Cleveland Regional.

Parker earned athlete of the month in January as well. In nine games during the first month of the year, the redshirt freshman guided her team to a 7-2 record and three wins over top-20 opponents. She averaged 16.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Parker registered 14 blocks, 14 steals and 30 assists in the nine games while shooting 60 percent from the field.

On Jan. 16, Parker garnered SEC Player and Freshman of the Week as well as Lady Vol Athlete of the Week honors after back-to-back double-doubles in SEC play. She was named the Philips Player of the Game four times in nine January games and picked up conference rookie honors twice.