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Ann Wauters is one of the candidates for the player of the year award.

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by Yannick Souvré

Name: Ann Wauters
Club: CSKA Samara
Nationality: BEL
Position: Forward
Date of birth: 12.10.1980

Statistics:
2006 EuroBasket Women Qualifying: 23.8 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 spg
2005-2006 EuroLeague Women Season: 15.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.7 apg

Ann Wauters is a proven winner.

She should also be a Player of the Year recipient.

Wauters has always been a prominent force in her club team’s success. Case in point is the fact that she has played in the last six EuroLeague Women Final Fours (twice with Samara, four times with USVO).


Ann Wauters has played in the last six Final Fours.
During that span, she was a member of three title-winning teams.

2005-2006 was another splendid campaign for the 195-cm Belgian at the club level as she helped the Russian outfit to the championship game.

In the semi-finals, she scored 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in a hard-fought 65-64 win over Lietuvos Telekomas.

Samara lost in the finals, but Wauters came up with big baskets in the fourth quarter to keep her team within striking distance before Gambrinus ultimately prevailed.

In a sense, Wauters has sacrificed individual statistics with CSKA’s star-studded line-up for the sake of being a part of a winning side.

But clearly she has the ability to rack up big numbers and be the go-to person, as exemplified in Belgium’s 2006 EuroBasket Women qualifying campaign, where she was simply dominant.

Her 23.8 ppg were third overall and her 10.5 rpg ranked fourth-best in the competition. More importantly, her play led Belgium to their first EuroBasket Women appearance since 2003 and second since 1985.

To put her statistics in perspective, Wauters was accountable for 33 percent of her team’s scoring and 30 percent of her team’s rebounding total.

A low-post player, Wauters also ranked second in steals.

And when her team needed a victory in their final game against Slovakia to clinch qualification, Wauters did what all great players do - she willed her team to victory and carried them on her back.

Wauters scored 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out three assists as Belgium won the close contest, 77-73.

Simply put, without Wauters, it is difficult to fathom Belgium advancing to EuroBasket Women 2007.

What really makes Wauters special is that she is never satisfied with her previous successes. Despite all of her winning years in the EuroLeague Women, she is always driven to capture the next title the following year.

And she is determined to bring the same winning formula from the club level to the national team.

In conclusion, this accomplished winner at the team level should be recognised for individual distinction as the FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year.