LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -  UNLV senior center Katie Powell has been named a candidate for another national award as she is one of 60 NCAA men's and women's basketball student-athletes who have been selected as candidates for the 2018-19 Senior CLASS Award, it was announced Friday.

This is the second award list Powell is a part of as she is also on the 2019 Lisa Leslie Award Watch List, which was announced in October. That honor recognizes the top women's center in Division I basketball.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

Powell, a 6-4 native of Atlanta, Georgia, had a breakout season for the Lady Rebels last year as she almost doubled her scoring average from 2016-17 to 15.5 points per game, which ranked seventh in the Mountain West. She posted 17.2 ppg in league action, ranking fourth. Her 8.7 rebounds per contest were the second-highest in the conference as well, and she paced the team with 13 double-doubles. Powell earned a league-high tying three MW Player of the Week honors in 2017-18 and was named both All-Mountain West and Mountain West All-Defensive after also finishing fifth in blocks.  

This season, she has led the Lady Rebels in scoring in four of their first five games and is currently fifth in the MW in scoring at 16.0 ppg and sixth in rebounds at 7.2 rpg.

"Katie's hard work and her attention to detail in practice has paid off," said UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. "She has improved her game in so many areas.  She has a high basketball IQ and is using it to make all of us better. She will always volunteer for community service and has taken pride in the classroom.  It's been amazing to watch Katie grow in every area of her life and become a model student-athlete at UNLV."  

The men's and women's candidates will be narrowed to two fields of 10 finalists in February and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition.

The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2019 NCAA Men's Final Four and NCAA Women's Final Four this spring.

NEXT FOR THE LADY REBELS: UNLV hosts USC Saturday, Dec. 1 at 5 pm in the Cox Pavilion. All fans attending the men's basketball game earlier that day at 3 pm will receive free admission to the game, while tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and staff or $5 if purchased online at UNLVTickets.com at least three hours before the contest.  Kids 17 and under are free to all UNLV women's basketball contests. For more ticket information, visit UNLVTickets.com or call 702-739-FANS (3267).