HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With the close of the most unique season in program history, the Alabama A&M Sports Information Office is counting down the Top-10 stories of the 2020-21 season throughout the summer. Today, we continue with the No. 6 story of the season – Women's Basketball's Dariauna Lewis Delivers Season For The Ages.
 
Make sure to check www.AAMUSports.com every Friday to catch the latest release.
 
Story No. 6: Women's Basketball's Dariauna Lewis Delivers Season For The Ages
Under the most trying of circumstances, being the first program back and a test case for COVID-19 protocols and all that came with it, women's basketball junior forward Dariauna Lewis (Omaha, Neb.) delivered a season for the ages.
 
Starting all 17 games, Lewis averaged 17.8 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 0.9 assists and steals while shooting an incredible .604 from the field. That rebounding average would be good for the second highest in all of Division I and represent the highest ever by a Bulldog in team history since moving up to DI at the turn of the century.
 
Additionally, with that mark as well as No. 7 in field goal percentage and No. 9 in defensive rebounds (8.8) in 2020-21, Lewis owns the top six national statistical rankings in program history. Prior to her efforts last season, the previous program high was No. 15 in steals per game by Brittney Strickland in 2013-14.
 
Her 13.0 rebounds would make program history another way as well as that number ranks as the second-highest behind only Latriesha Moon's mark of 14.9 in 1997-98 and is the most by a Bulldog at the Division I level. Beyond that, a review of available records back to 1981-82, when the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball, shows that Lewis is just the seventh individual to average double-digit rebounds over the course of a year. It is something that has been done just nine times in the past 40 seasons.
 
One of the most dominant players on the court in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), she would make even more history in the classroom. On May 6 she became the first Bulldog in any sport to earn College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors in 29 years.
 
Just over three weeks later she would become the first CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree in nearly three decades, collecting Third-Team honors as one of just 15 players chosen at the Division I level.
 
On top of that she was named the Black College Sports Network National Player of the Year and earned First-Team All-American honors from that organization as well as her second straight from BOXTOROW. Those followed a second consecutive berth on the All-SWAC First-Team and five league weekly honors.
 
The latter would see her be named SWAC Player of the Week on four separate occasions (Dec. 2, Feb. 2, Feb. 9, Feb. 26), the league's Impact Player of the Week (Mar. 2) once and the BOXTOROW National Player of the Week (Feb. 2).
 
Not an unknown coming into the season by any means, Lewis was named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List and the All-SWAC Preseason Team.
 
In just her second year with the program, and with two to go, Dariauna Lewis has delivered record-setting performances in 2020-21 and set the stage for even more high level achievements in the future.
 
The Schedule
Every Friday throughout the Summer and leading up to the 2021-22 preseason, the SID Office will release the list one at a time beginning with the No. 10 story on June 4. The No. 1 story in Alabama A&M Athletics, as chosen by the Sports Information Office, will be released on Friday, August 6.
 
Countdown to the Top-10 Alabama A&M Athletics Stories from 2020-21
No. 1 – Coming August 6
No. 2 – Coming July 30
No. 3 – Coming July 23
No. 4 – Coming July 16
No. 5 – Coming July 9
No. 6 – Women's Basketball's Dariauna Lewis Delivers Season For The Ages (July 2)
No. 7 – Men's Tennis Earns First SWAC Championship and NCAA Tournament Berth (June 25)
No. 8 – Softball's Coe Bursts Onto The Scene With Award Winning Season (June 18)
No. 9 – Women's Soccer Produces Record-Setting Defensive Effort In Spring Campaign (June 11)
No. 10 – Baseball Delivers DI Era Record-Tying Seven-Game Win Streak (June 4)
Honorable Mention (June 2)