MAC Announces Women's Basketball Post Season Awards
CLEVELAND, OHIO ? Highlighted by the first tie in history for the leagues’ Coach of the Year, the Mid-American Conference women’s basketball post season honors were awarded tonight at the Marriott Key Center in downtown Cleveland. The awards banquet signals the tip-off of this week’s conference festivities that conclude on Sunday, March 15th with the conference’s championship game at Quicken Loans Arena.
Bowling Green’s head coach Curt Miller and Toledo’s first year head coach Tricia Cullop were named Co-MAC Coaches of the Year. Miller enters the MAC Tournament with an overall record of 176-71 in his eighth season, and has a MAC record of 94-34 through the 2008-09 regular season. He is the winningest coach in school history, and is tied for fourth on the MAC list. In MAC games only, he is deadlocked for eighth among conference coaches.
Miller’s Falcons have won over 20 games for the sixth consecutive season, and BG has posted at least 26 wins in each of the last four years. Over that four-year span, the Falcons have gone 111-18 overall and 59-5 in MAC regular-season play. This season, he has guided a BG team with nine first- or second-year players and just one senior on the 13-woman active roster. This year’s team reeled off a school-record 25 consecutive wins, and has won 26 of the last 27 contests heading into the league tournament.
Cullop has guided the Rockets, picked to finish last in the West Division, to the league’s third-best MAC record and a first-round bye in the conference tournament. UT finished 11-5 in MAC play, and the Midnight Blue and Gold enter the tourney quarterfinals with an overall mark of 17-12. Cullop’s honor marks the first time in six years, and the seventh time in school history that a UT coach has earned the league award. Mark Ehlen picked up the MAC Coach of the Year trophy in 1996-97, 1998-99, 2000-01 and 2002-03, while Bill Fennelly earned the honor in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.
Lauren Prochaska recognized in voting by league coaches, sports information directors and media, as the player of the year honorees. She was joined on the First Team All-MAC by Akron’s Kara Murphy, fellow teammate Tracy Pontius, Ball State’s Porchia Green and Kent State’s Anna Kowalska.
Prochaska currently leads the Falcons and ranks second in the MAC in scoring, with 17.9 points per game. A native of Plain City, Ohio, she is second on the team with 6.0 rebounds per outing, and had a team-leading total of 69 three-point field goals made. Prochaska is second in the league in scoring, and ranks among the top-50 scorers in the country. She leads the entire nation in field-goal percentage, having made over 94 percent of her attempts from the stripe to date. She has had 11 games of 20 points or more this year, including a pair of 32-point outings and a school-record 43-point outburst in the Falcons’ win over Central Michigan. She became only the second player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points before the end of her sophomore season.
Joining Prochaska with specialty award recognition is Brandie Baker of Central Michigan as Freshman of the Year, Porchia Green of Ball State as Defensive Player of the Year and Marke Freeman of Northern Illinois as Sixth Player of the Year.
Baker, a native of Flint, ranked 18th in the league in scoring (12.0 points), 15th in rebounding (6.0), 15th in assists (3.31), sixth in steals (1.93), eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.28) and third in minutes played (35.97). She finished the season shooting 35 percent from the floor and 29 percent from long range, sinking 46 threes already this season, the ninth most in a single campaign in school history. Seven times Baker played the full 40 minutes in a contest, running the point on offense and often guarding the opponent’s best offensive player regardless of position.
Green has garnered Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honors three times this season. She started all 30 games this season. Green leads the team in rebounding averaging 6.8 a contest and leads the team in steals with 54. She ranks 11th all-time in scoring in the BSU record books with 1,191 points. Scored her 1,00th point in a 70-67 victory at Western Michigan (1/10/09). Green has played 1,045 minutes so far this season which is good for third all-time in a season. She is one of only two players who has reached 1,000 or more minutes in two seasons. Green is eighth all-time at Ball State in rebounds with 772. She is only the 10th player in Ball State history to reach at least 1,000 career points and at least 500 rebounds. Green is seventh all-time in assists in the Ball State record books with 402. She has recorded five double-doubles this season and scored a personal best 28 points at home against Evansville .
Coming off the bench Freeman averages 9.4 points per game and shoots 41.6 percent in the field. She leads the team and is 14th in the MAC in assists with 97 and her career high of seven came against Ball State in their first meeting of the season. She has 13 double digit scoring performances with her career high of 19 coming against UIC in December 20th. She leads the team in steals with 36 with her career high of 4 coming against Western Illinois in the second game of the season.
Second-team all-league recognition went to Buffalo’s Kourtney Brown, Central Michigan’s Britni Houghton, Miami’s Jenna Schone, Ohio’s Lauren Hmiel and Toledo’s Tanika Mays.
Third team selections are Ball State teammate’s Danielle Gratton and Emily Maggert, Northern Illinois’ Jessie Wilcox, Ohio’s Jennifer Bushby and Western Michigan’s Tiera DeLaHoussaye.
The honorable mention quintet is Central Michigan’s Angel Chan, Eastern Michigan’s Cassie Schrock, Kent State’s Jamilah Humes, Northern Illinois’ Ebony Ellis and Toledo’s Naama Shafir.
Also tabbed were the next wave of MAC stellar players - the league’s All-Freshman squad. In addition to Baker and Shafir, Akron’s Kyle Baumgartner, Eastern Michigan’s Tavelyn James and Western Michigan’s Miame Giden.
First Team
Kara Murphy, Akron, Guard
Porchia Green, Ball State, Guard
Tracy Pontius, Bowling Green, Point Guard
Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green, Guard
Anna Kowalska, Kent State, Center
Second Team
Kourtney Brown, Buffalo, Post
Britni Houghton, Central Michigan, Forward
Jenna Schone, Miami, Guard
Lauren Hmiel, Ohio, Guard
Tanika Mays, Toledo, Forward
Third Team
Danielle Gratton, Ball State, Forward
Emily Maggert, Ball State, Forward
Jessie Wilcox, Northern Illinois, Guard
Jennifer Bushby, Ohio, Guard
Tiera DeLaHoussaye, Western Michigan, Point Guard
Honorable Mention
Angel Chan, Central Michigan, Guard
Cassie Schrock, Eastern Michigan, Guard
Jamilah Humes, Kent State, Guard
Ebony Ellis, Northern Illinois, Center
Naama Shafir, Toledo, Guard
All-Freshman Team
Kyle Baumgartner, Akron, Center
Brandie Baker, Central Michigan, Guard
Tavelyn James, Eastern Michigan, Guard
Naama Shafir, Toledo, Guard
Miame Giden, Western Michigan, Guard/Forward
Defensive Player of the Year
Porchia Green, Ball State
Sixth Player of the Year
Marke Freeman, Northern Illinois
Freshman of the Year
Brandie Baker, Central Michigan
Player of the Year
Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green
Co-Coach of the Year
Tricia Cullop, Toledo
Curt Miller, Bowling Green
