Best female athlete
Readers’ pick: Caira Washington

Senior Caira Washington shares a last name with the nation’s first president, which is fitting because she plays ball like she runs the country.

The Brandywine, Md. native is a commanding presence on the court and has earned her status as best female athlete. Washington is the fourth player in program history to have 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 points in her time as a Colonial.

In her final season, Washington led the Colonials in average rebounds, blocked shots and offensive rebounds, and averaged 11.8 points and eight rebounds per game. In the Atlantic 10 conference this year, the standout had the best field goal percentage, shooting 56.1 percent from the field, and owned the second-highest average number of blocked shots, averaging 2.2 blocks per game. She was named A-10 Player of the Week three times and named to the A-10 All-Conference second team this year.

The forward was named the 2013-2014 A-10 Rookie of the Year and made the A-10 All-Conference third team and All-Rookie team her freshman year. Since her breakout inaugural season four years ago, Washington has made the A-10 first team her sophomore and junior year and has tallied 35 career double-doubles, a performance in which a player in one game tallies double-digit numbers in two of five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, blocked shots and steals.  

Washington has led the Colonials to three Atlantic 10 regular season championships in a row and back-to-back Atlantic 10 tournament championships. The psychology major has punched her ticket to the Big Dance twice in her illustrious college basketball career.