MAC Women's Basketball All-League Selections Announced
March 7, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
![]()
![]()
Download Free Acrobat Reader
CLEVELAND -- Five of the top seven scorers in the Mid-American Conference following the end of the regular season highlight the five-person women's basketball all-MAC first-team, which was announced today by the league office. The league will formally present the student-athletes with their awards Tuesday evening at the league's tournament Tip-Off Banquet at the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade in Cleveland. Voting on the team was conducted by the league's 13 head coaches.
Three of the five -- Eastern Michigan's Ryan Coleman, Ball State's Kate Endress and Kent State's Lindsay Shearer -- garnered first-team all-league honors last season, while KSU's Melissa DeGrate and Western Michigan's Carrie Moore capture all-MAC laurels for the first time in their career.
Coleman, last year's Kraft MAC Tournament MVP, ranked third in scoring at 17.4 ppg and 12th in rebounding (6.8). The senior guard also ranked third in steals per game (2.7) and ranked in the top-10 in the league in both free throw (5th, .830) and field goal percentages (7th, .457). The Detroit, Mich., native recorded three double-doubles and the MAC's only triple-double of the year. Coleman, who won West Division Player of the Week honors five times this season, is only the second player in EMU annals to garner first-team all-MAC honors twice in her career, joining Stephanie Smiley, who captured honors in 2001 and 2002.
Like Coleman, BSU's Endress is only the second Cardinal to be named a first-team all-MAC choice twice in her career -- Tamara Bowie in 2001-03 was the other. The Evansville, Ind., native topped the MAC in scoring (18.2 ppg) and was also the conference's most accurate three-point shooter (.464) during the regular season, while her 65 three-pointers ranked second. A four-time West Division Player of the Week recipient, Endress scored 20-plus points 12 times during the regular season, including a career-high 30 points against Central Michigan on Mar. 1. In the team's win over Akron in the first round of the Kraft MAC Tournament on Mar. 5, Endress scored 25 points, pushing her career scoring mark over the 1,800 point plateau.
DeGrate, in her second and final season in a KSU uniform, increased her scoring average by over six points a game this year, finishing the regular season with a 16.1 ppg scoring average. A five-time East Division Player of the Week honoree, the Amarillo, Texas, native shot 46 percent from the field (6th in the MAC) and recorded 2.7 steals per game (4th). She scored in double figures in 24 of 27 games, including a career-high 30 points in the regular season finale against Buffalo. Heading into the quarterfinals of the league tournament, DeGrate is averaging 20.2 ppg over her last 10 games.
The fourth first-team all-MAC selection in the past four seasons for WMU, Moore was second in both scoring (17.4) and rebounding (8.3) at the conclusion of the regular season. The sophomore guard from Lathrup Village, Mich., leads the league with 11 double-doubles and had 12 games of 20 or more points, including seven of her final 10 games. Moore scored a career-high 29 points in a win at Northern Illinois on Feb. 22. In addition, she also had three games of 15 or more rebounds. Moore was also one of only two players in the league to log more than 1,000 minutes during the regular season, averaging 37.1 minutes a game.
A two-time MAC East Division Player of the Week, Shearer helped guide the Golden Flashes to a share of the school's sixth East Division crown. The junior forward from Minerva, Ohio, was sixth in the league in scoring (16.4) and 11th in rebounding (6.9). Shearer, who also averaged 16.4 ppg in league play, registered six double-doubles prior to the tournament, which tied for third in the MAC.
Named to the all-MAC second team are Bowling Green's Liz Honegger and Ali Mann, Western Michigan's Kelly Koerber, Miami's Cindi Merrill and Marshall's Sikeetha Shepard-Hall. Merrill earned second-team all-conference accolades last season, while Mann and Shepard-Hall both copped honorable mention honors a year ago.
For the first time in league history, a third-team all-conference was awarded. That group includes Toledo's Danielle Bishop and Karin Hoogendam, Eastern Michigan's Erika Ford and Nikki Knapp and Northern Illinois' Stephanie Raymond. Knapp was a second-team selection in 2003-04 while Hoogendam was tabbed an honorable mention selection.
The honorable mention team is comprised of five players earning all-conference honors for the first time in their careers. The team consists of Marshall's Crystal Champion, Bowling Green's Carin Horne, Miami's Amanda Jackson, Ohio's Simone Redd and Kent State's Malika Willoughby.
Occupying the five-member all-freshman team are Bowling Green's Kate Achter, Ball State's Julie DeMuth, Ohio's Simone Redd, Toledo's Olivia Terry and Buffalo's Heather Turner.
A complete list of all four all-MAC teams, along with the all-freshman team, follows. The league's specialty awards -- Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and the Sixth Man of the Year award -- will be announced Tuesday evening coinciding with the MAC's women's basketball banquet, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade.
2004-05 All-MAC Women's Basketball Team
First Team
Name School Pos. Yr. Hometown (High School/College)
$&Ryan Coleman Eastern Michigan G Sr. Detroit, Mich. (Commun. & Media Arts HS)
Melissa DeGrate Kent State G Sr. Amarillo, Texas (Amarillo HS/South Plains College)
$≠Kate Endress Ball State F Sr. Evansville, Ind. (Memorial HS)
¢Carrie Moore Western Michigan G So. Lathrup Village, Mich. (Detroit Country Day HS)
$Lindsay Shearer Kent State F Jr. Minerva, Ohio (Minerva HS)
Second Team
Name School Pos. Yr. Hometown (High School/College)
Liz Honegger Bowling Green C So. Lafayette, Ind. (Jefferson HS)
Kelly Koerber Western Michigan F Sr. Flint, Mich. (Powers Catholic HS)
%Ali Mann Bowling Green F So. Chelsea, Mich. (Chelsea HS)
*Cindi Merrill Miami G Jr. Noblesville, Ind. (Noblesville HS)
%^Sikeetha Shepard-Hall
Marshall G Jr. Houston, Texas (Lutheran North HS)
Third Team
Name School Pos. Yr. Hometown (High School/College)
Danielle Bishop Toledo G So. Laingsburg, Mich. (Laingsburg Christian HS)
Erika Ford Eastern Michigan G Sr. Flushing, Mich. (Flushing HS)
%Karin Hoogendam Toledo C Sr. St. Catharines, Ontario (Governor Simcoe HS)
^*Nikki Knapp Eastern Michigan F Jr. Blue Springs, Mo. (Blue Springs North HS)
¢Stephanie Raymond Northern Illinois G So. Rockford, Ill. (Lutheran HS)
Honorable Mention
Name School Pos. Yr. Hometown (High School/College)
Crystal Champion Marshall F So. Washington, D.C. (H.D. Woodson HS)
Carin Horne Bowling Green F So. Lima, Ohio (Lima Senior HS)
¢Amanda Jackson Miami G So. Springfield, Ohio (Springfield South HS)
Simone Redd Ohio G Fr. Warrensville Heights, Ohio (Regina HS)
Malika Willoughby Kent State G Jr. Milwaukee, Wis. (Washington HS/UW-Milwaukee)
All-Freshman Team
Name School Pos. Hometown (High School)
Kate Achter Bowling Green G Oregon, Ohio (Clay HS)
Julie DeMuth Ball State G Merrillville, Ind. (Decatur Central HS)
Simone Redd Ohio G Warrensville Heights, Ohio (Regina HS)
Olivia Terry Toledo G Richmond, Ky. (Madison Central HS)
Heather Turner Buffalo F West Seneca, N.Y. (Mount Mercy Academy)
$First-team all-MAC in 2003-04
*Second-team all-MAC in 2003-04
%Honorable mention all-MAC in 2003-04
¢All-freshman in 2003-04
&Second-team all-MAC in 2002-03
^All-freshman in 2002-03
≠All-freshman in 2001-02
