Mid-American Conference Announces Top Women's Basketball Honors

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March 11, 2003

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CLEVELAND -- Ball State's Tamara Bowie and Toledo's Mark Ehlen have earned the Mid-American Conference's top honors for the 2002-03 season. Bowie has been named the league's Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons, while Ehlen has garnered the league's Coach of the Year award for the fourth time in the last seven years. In addition, Northern Illinois' Joi Scott has been tabbed as the MAC Freshman of the Year. Voting was conducted by the league's 13 head coaches and members of the MAC News Media Association.

The conference's other two specialty awards, the Defensive Player of the Year and the inaugural Sixth Man award, are voted on by the league's head coaches. Capturing the Defensive Player of the Year honor is Western Michigan's Maria Jilian, while Miami's Kim Lancaster is tabbed the winner of the Sixth Man award.

Bowie is the second Cardinal to capture the league's top player honor, joining Jenny Eckert who won the honor in 1990. A three-time first-team all-MAC selection, she is also the sixth player in MAC history to win the award more than once in a career. Bowie claimed the honor as a sophomore in 2001.

Currently the league's leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, Bowie also paces the MAC in blocked shots per game (1.92) and is second in the conference in rebounds (8.8) and field goal percentage (.563). The senior forward from Lansing, Mich., also produced a league-high 10 double-doubles and scored in double figures in 24 of 25 games played in, including 15 games of 20 or more points and two of 30-plus points. Entering Wednesday's Kraft MAC Tournament quarterfinal game with Buffalo, Bowie is nine points from becoming the seventh player in league history to reach the 2,000 point plateau.

After losing first-team all-MAC choice Tia Davis to an injury for the final seven games of the regular season and part of an eighth, Ehlen claimed at least a share of his fourth West Division title and the school's sixth MAC Regular Season crown. With a 19-8 overall mark, Ehlen is one win short of his sixth 20-win season at UT. He has also won at least 10 league contests in seven of his eight seasons, including a 12-4 record in 2002-03. Ehlen, who became the school's all-time winningest coach this season, has won the coaching honor every other year since winning his initial award in 1997.

Northern Illinois' Scott is the first Huskie to be named as the league's Freshman of the Year, as well as the first NIU student-athlete or coach to win a MAC women's basketball specialty award. The forward from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, is fifth in the MAC in blocked shots per game (0.93) and finished her season as the team's fourth-leading scorer, averaging 9.2 points per game. Scott was also third on the squad in rebounding (4.8). After averaging 3.5 points in her first 10 games as a collegiate player, Scott closed out the season by averaging 12.6 points per game in her last 17 contests. Ten times in her final 17 games she netted double digits in points, highlighted by a 23-point, 11-rebound performance against Bowling Green on Feb. 1.

In its seventh year of existence, the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year goes to Western Michigan's Jilian. The Dearborn, Mich., native leads the MAC and the Broncos with a school-record 111 steals, and she has ranked as high as third nationally in steals per game. Her year-to-date total is currently tied for the fourth most in league annals and are the most by a MAC player since Toledo's Mitzi Hallinan registered 111 and 112 steals in the 1982-83 and the 1983-84 seasons, respectively. Ten times Jilian recorded five or more steals in a game, including a stretch of six consecutive contests of five-plus steals. The sophomore also leads the conference in assists-per-game average (6.14) and is fifth on the Broncos in scoring (9.1).

Miami's Lancaster claims the inaugural Sixth Man award, helping the RedHawks to their first-ever MAC East Division title. Coming off the bench in all 23 games she appeared in, the junior from Sharonville, Ohio, was second on the team in rebounding (5.0) and third in scoring (9.8) and blocked shots (12). Lancaster also ranks third in the conference in field goal percentage (.538). The forward scored in double digits 10 times in 2002-03, including a season-high 18 points at TCU.

Specialty Award Top-Three Finishers

Player of the Year
Tamara Bowie, Ball State 48
Heather Cusick, Miami 18
Tia Davis, Toledo6

Coach of the Year
Mark Ehlen, Toledo 30
Maria Fantanarosa, Miami22
Cheryl Dozier, Buffalo11

Freshman of the Year
Joi Scott, Northern Illinois20
Nikki Knapp, Eastern Michigan15
Sikeetha Shepard-Hall, Marshall13

Defensive Player of the Year
(voted on by the MAC head coaches)
Maria Jilian, Western Michigan

Sixth Man award
(voted on by the MAC head coaches)
Kim Lancaster, Miami

A total of 77 ballots were received from members of the MAC News Media Association and the MAC's head coaches.