USA Basketball Gold Medalist and UConn All-American Sr. C Tina Charles was named the 2009 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year today by USA Basketball. Charles was the USA's leading scorer and rebounder while helping the 2009 USA Women's World University Games Team capture a perfect record and gold medal July 2-11 in Belgrade, Serbia. She returned to the red, white and blue two months later for the 2009 USA Women's National Team training Sept. 20-Oct. 6 in Washington, D.C. Following training camp, she averaged team second-bests for points and rebounds as the only collegiate athlete on the USA Women's National Team that rolled to three straight wins and a gold medal in the 2009 Ekaterinburg International Invitational, Oct. 9-11 in Russia. Overall, Charles spent 39 days in 2009 training or competing with a USA Basketball team. USA Basketball will nominate Charles for the U.S. Olympic Committee's 2010 SportsWoman of the Year, which is expected to be announced in January of 2010. She becomes only the 2nd Husky to be honored as former UConn Great Diana Taurasi was honored in 2006.