OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Gonzaga senior guard Jill Townsend has been selected as one of 10 finalists nationwide for the women's basketball 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 
Townsend, the reigning WCC Player of the Year, currently leads the Zags in scoring at 13.2 points per contest shooting 48.0 percent from the floor and ranks third in rebounding at 4.9 per game. The Okanogan, Wash., native has reached double-figures 14 times this season, including a career-high 29 in a double-overtime loss—the last time GU lost this season—at South Dakota State on Dec. 6. She also has three double-doubles on the season (points, rebounds), and on Jan. 24 she became the 24th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points.
 
Townsend has also excelled in the classroom working toward her B.A. in biology, and she has spent nearly 60 hours assisting the Spokane community.
 
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 athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 
 
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 women's candidates announced earlier in the season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through March 22. Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The Senior CLASS Award recipients will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men's Final Four^® and NCAA Women's Final Four^®.
 
For more information on each of the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.