Candace Parker

Less than 24 hours after becoming the second player to dunk in a WNBA game, the Los Angeles Sparks' sexy rookie sensation Candace Parker accepted the Honda-Broderick Cup, designating her the 2008 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

Receiving her award yesterday at Columbia University's Low Library in New York City, Candace's svelte 6'4 frame was garbed in a slim, black skirt suit with sparkling buckles, front and back. She cited the proverb tatted on her wrist, "To whom much is given, much is expected,” in her gracefully, yet confident, acceptance speech.

"I work hard and don't let the fact that I'm a woman stop me in sports,” she told KING-Mag.com after her speech. "That's what the generation before did, and that's why we can play in the WNBA today.”

This summer, she looks to add more hardware to the trophy case--she's aiming for a WNBA championship as well as a gold metal at the Olympics this August.

But fall back, fellas, before trying to hoop with this basketball beauty. Her fiancée, Sacremento Kings big man Shelden Williams, smiled from the crowd as Candace accepted the Cup.

Photos from the press conference below. [Courtesy of Albert Ferreira/Startraks.]