C-USA Releases Women' Basketball Postseason Awards
11/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
C-USA Releases Women?s Basketball Postseason Awards
Shannon Stueber receives All-Freshman honors |
IRVING, Texas - Head coach Doug Bruno and freshman Allie Quigley of regular season champion DePaul are among the headliners on the list of 2005 Conference USA award winners, as announced by the league office Wednesday. TCU standout Sandora Irvin earned her first C-USA Player of the Year accolade and third Defensive Player of the Year honor. Quigley grabbed the Freshman of the Year award, while Cincinnati?s Anne Stevens was named the Sixth Player of the Year. The first round of the 2005 Pepsi C-USA Women?s Basketball Tournament gets underway in Charlotte, N.C. on Thursday.
Southern Miss' Shannon Stueber was named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team. Stueber, becomes only the third Southern Miss player named to the All-Freshman Team. She leads the team in scoring with a 15.1 point per game average, which is second in the league among freshmen.
Bruno was named the 2005 C-USA Coach of the Year after leading the Blue Demons to their second regular season title this season. In the 10 years that DePaul has been a member of the league, Bruno has won two regular season CUSA championships, made four NCAA appearances and three WNIT appearances. As a head coach, Bruno has led DePaul to 13 postseason appearances, including a C-USA-best nine NCAA Tournament bids. Earlier in the week, Bruno was named Conference USA?s Coach of the Decade, an honor surrounding the league?s 10th Anniversary campaign. The No. 12-ranked Blue Demons? 2005 regular season title is their first league championship crown since the league?s inaugural season in 1995-96. DePaul also closed out the 2005 season with a perfect 14-0 record at home, and carries a 13-game winning streak into the conference tournament.
Following Irvin?s C-USA All-Decade Team selection and Bayer Senior CLASS finalist announcement that came earlier in the week, the senior forward was named 2005 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as well as a first team All-Conference selection. Irvin was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 and earned all-Conference honors all four years, with third team in honors in 2002 and second team accolades in 2003 prior to earning back-to-back first team recognition. Irvin was named the WBCA National Player of the Month for December after she averaged 22.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.6 blocks and 2.8 steals in TCU's eight games during the month. In February, Irvin broke the NCAA?s career record for blocked shots of 428 against Memphis Feb. 5. Her current total stands at 467 entering this week?s 2005 Pepsi C-USA Women?s Basketball Tournament. For the season, Irvin is averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds, 4.7 blocked shots, 2.2 assists and 2.4 steals. She ranks 13th in the country in scoring and second in rebounding and blocks.
Joining Irvin on the C-USA first team are DePaul?s Khara Smith, Louisville?s Jazz Covington, USF?s Jessica Dickson and Houston?s Sancho Lyttle. The 2005 All-Conference USA second team includes: Charlotte junior guard Sakellie Daniels, DePaul senior guard Jenni Dant, East Carolina senior guard/forward Jennifer Jackson, and Marquette?s duo of junior guard Carolyn Kieger and sophomore forward Christina Quaye. Named to the CUSA All-Conference Third Team were three guards, Natasha Lacy of TCU, Joann Overstreet of Houston and Allie Quigley of DePaul; along with two forwards, Victoria Crawford of Memphis and Lakethia Hampton of Tulane.
Quigley was named Freshman of the Year after leading the NCAA Division I freshmen in three-point field goal percentage (49.3 percent), a figure that ranks third overall in the nation. Quigley, who has made 68 treys in her 27 games of action this season, is joined on the C-USA All-Freshman Team by teammate Erin Carney, Saint Louis? Mia Johnson, Louisville?s Yuliya Tokova and Shannon Stueber of Southern Miss.
The league?s Sixth Player of the Year award went to Anne Stevens of Cincinnati, who has come off the bench averaging 12.1 points per game, ranking third in the league for field goal percentage with 51.9 percent accuracy.
A total of 10 out of the 15 players that earned all-conference recognition were juniors and seniors. Five of the honorees were underclassmen. DePaul had the most overall selections with three, while TCU, Marquette and Houston each had two. Ten C-USA schools placed at least one member on the all-conference selection lists.
Conference USA award winners were selected by a panel including the league?s head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives from each league city.
2005 CONFERENCE USA WOMEN?S BASKETBALL AWARD WINNERS
All-Conference
First Team
Jazz Covington, Louisville F 6-2 So. Adel, Ga./Cook
Jessica Dickson, USF F 5-11 So. Ocala, Fla./Vanguard
Sandora Irvin, TCU F 6-3 Sr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Ft. Lauderdale
Sancho Lyttle, Houston F/C 6-4 Sr. St. Vincent, British West Indies/Clarendon JC
Khara Smith, DePaul F 6-2 Jr. Hillside, Ill./Proviso West
Second Team
Sakellie Daniels, Charlotte G 5-7 Jr. Raeford, N.C./Hoke County
Jenni Dant, DePaul G 5-10 Sr. Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson
Jennifer Jackson, East Carolina G/F 5-9 Sr. Farmville, Va./Prince Edwards
Carolyn Kieger, Marquette G 5-6 Jr. Roseville, Minn./Roseville
Christina Quaye, Marquette F 6-2 So. Chicago, Ill./Regina Dominican
Third Team
Victoria Crawford, Memphis F 5-10 Sr. Birmingham, Ala./Woodlawn
Natasha Lacy, TCU G 5-10 So. El Paso, Texas/Montwood
Lakethia Hampton, Tulane F 6-0 Sr. New Orleans, La./John McDonogh
Joann Overstreet, Houston G 5-5 Sr. Killeen, Texas/Midland JC
Allie Quigley, DePaul G 5-11 Fr. Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic
All-Freshman Team
Allie Quigley, DePaul G 5-11 Fr. Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic
Mia Johnson, Saint Louis G 5-9 Fr. Minneapolis, Minn./North
Yuliya Tokova, Louisville F 6-1 Fr. Burdichev, Ukraine
Shannon Stueber, Southern Miss F 5-11 Fr. The Colony, Texas/The Colony
Erin Carney, DePaul F 5-11 Fr. Flint, Mich./Traverse City St. Francis
Coach of the Year
Doug Bruno, DePaul
Player of the Year
Sandora Irvin, TCU
Freshman of the Year
Allie Quigley, DePaul
Defensive Player of the Year
Sandora Irvin, TCU
Sixth Player of the Year
Anne Stevens, Cincinnati
