The third time is the most satisfying for Alana Beard.
The Duke senior with a smooth jumper and moves to match became the second three-time member of the Associated Press women's All-America team Tuesday. She was a unanimous selection on a squad that also features Connecticut's Diana Taurasi, Penn State's Kelly Mazzante, Stanford's Nicole Powell, and Kansas State's Nicole Ohlde.
Taurasi also was named Naismith player of the year.
Florida's Vanessa Hayden was on the AP second team, along with Houston's Chandi Jones, Purdue's Shereka Wright, Minnesota's Lindsay Whalen and Texas' Stacy Stephens.
The only other player with a trio of first-team selections was Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw in 1997-99. The AP has been picking a women's All-America team since 1995.
"Any time you're associated with the name Chamique Holdsclaw, it's always an honor," Beard said. "And to be a first-team All-American, when there are so many good players out there, and then to do it three times - it's definitely a blessing."
Beard was a first-team choice on all 47 ballots. Taurasi had 45 first-team votes, Mazzante had 36, Powell had 25 and Ohlde 24.
RATINGS UP: The ratings for the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament were up more than 50 percent from last year. The ratings on two ESPN networks increased from 0.3 last season to 0.7 this year, up 133 percent. The ratings for the six games shown on ESPN2 doubled from 0.2 to 0.4. The games on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. Sunday appeared in more than 650,000 households, making it that network's most-viewed first-round telecast.
