MAC Announces Women's Hoops All-MAC Teams, Defensive Player and Sixth Player of the Year
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced Monday, March 7th, prior to the 2016 MAC Tournament first round games, the 2015-16 All-MAC Teams, All-Freshman Team, All-Defensive Team, Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year awards as voted by the 12 head coaches of the Mid-American Conference.
The 2015-16 All-MAC First Team consists of Akron's Anita Brown, Ball State's Nathalie Fontaine, Buffalo's JoAnna Smith, Ohio's Kiyanna Black and Toledo's Brenae Harris. This is the second year in a row that both Fontaine and Black were named First-Team All-MAC, while Brown (Second-Team All-MAC) and Harris (All-MAC Honorable Mention) also earned accolades last season.
Guiding the Zips to a second place finish in the MAC East was Brown who led the league in scoring throughout the regular season (21.3) and finished fifth in the MAC in rebounding (7.6). Fontaine, who became Ball State women’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer this year, finished second in the league in points per game (21.0) and rebounds per game (10.2) and was named MAC West Player of the Week a league high seven times. The lone junior on the All-MAC First-Team was Smith. During conference play, Smith paced the Bulls with 19.3 points a game which was good for the second best mark in league play and hauled in 6.4 boards per contest. Black, who guided the Bobcats to their second straight MAC Regular Season crown, was third in the MAC in scoring at 18.4 points per game and established the new league record for three-point field goal makes in a season with 112. Rounding out the First-Team All-MAC squad was Harris. The Rockets guard led the MAC in assists per game (5.5) during conference play and finished tenth in scoring at 14.9 points per tilt.
Highlighting the All-MAC Second Team was Akron’s Hannah Plybon, Central Michigan’s Presley Hudson and Tinara Moore, Eastern Michigan’s Cha Sweeney and Ohio’s Quiera Lampkins. It was the second year in a row both Plybon and Sweeney were named to the All-MAC Second Team and Lampkins improved from her honor as a Third-Team All-MAC selection last season. Hudson (freshman) and Moore (sophomore) were the two youngest honoree’s of the top two All-MAC teams and represent a strong core of young talent for the Chippewas.
All-MAC Third Team honors went to Ball State’s Jill Morrison, Bowling Green’s Lauren Tibbs, Buffalo’s Stephanie Reid, Eastern Michigan’s Janay Morton and Northern Illinois’ Ally Lehman.
Receiving All-MAC Honorable Mention were Jordan Korinek (Kent State), Lexie Baldwin (Ohio), Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott (Toledo), Janice Monakana (Toledo) and Jessica Jessing (Western Michigan).
Named to the MAC All-Freshman team were Carmen Grande (Ball State), Sydney Lambert (Bowling Green), Reyna Frost (Central Michigan), Presley Hudson (Central Michigan) and Kaayla McIntyre (Toledo).
Rounding out the All-MAC Teams was the newly added 2015-16 All-Defensive Team. Chosen for their outstanding effort at the defensive end of the court were Stephanie Reid (Buffalo), Tinara Moore (Central Michigan), Janay Morton (Eastern Michigan), Quiera Lampkins (Ohio) and Jasmine Weatherspoon (Ohio).
Ohio’s Quiera Lampkins received the nod as the 2015-16 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. Lampkins led the Bobcats in steals per game (2.5) and finished the season ranked second in the MAC. Ohio ended the season as the league’s top defensive squad, holding opponents to only 59.1 points and .350 shooting per game. This is the first time a player from Ohio has been chosen as the MAC Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year.
In a rare tie for MAC individual awards, Central Michigan’s Jewel Cotton and Toledo’s Kaayla McIntyre were named Co-MAC Sixth Player of the Year. It was the fourth time in the last six years that the Chippewas have had a player earn the honor, while it is a first for the Rockets women’s basketball program. Cotton came off Central Michigan’s bench and averaged 8.7 points and 6.0 rebounds, while McIntyre posted averages of 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25 games as a substitute.
The 2015-16 Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced Tuesday.
MAC Tournament first round play opens with No. 11 Kent State at No. 6 Eastern Michigan at 5:00 PM ET, No. 9 Bowling Green at No. 8 Buffalo, 5:30 PM ET, No. 12 Miami at No. 5 Akron, 7:00 PM ET and No. 10 Northern Illinois at No. 7 Western Michigan at 7:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM CT. Following the first round games, the MACtion will move to the Q in Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday, March 9th for quarterfinals.
2015-16 All-Mid-American Conference First Team
Anita Brown, Akron, G
Nathalie Fontaine, Ball State, G
JoAnna Smith, Buffalo, G
Kiyanna Black, Ohio, G
Brenae Harris, Toledo, G
2015-16 All-Mid-American Conference Second Team
Hannah Plybon, Akron, G
Presley Hudson, Central Michigan, G
Tinara Moore, Central Michigan, F
Cha Sweeney, Eastern Michigan, G
Quiera Lampkins, Ohio, G
2015-16 All-Mid-American Conference Third Team
Jill Morrison, Ball State, G
Lauren Tibbs, Bowling Green, C
Stephanie Reid, Buffalo, G
Janay Morton, Eastern Michigan, G
Ally Lehman, Northern Illinois, G
2015-16 All-Mid-American Conference Honorable Mention
Jordan Korinek, Kent State, F
Lexie Baldwin, Ohio, F
Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott, Toledo, G
Janice Monakana, Toledo, F
Jessica Jessing, Western Michigan, F
2015-16 Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team
Carmen Grande, Ball State, G
Sydney Lambert, Bowling Green, G
Reyna Frost, Central Michigan, F
Presley Hudson, Central Michigan, G
Kaayla McIntyre, Toledo, C
2015-16 Mid-American Conference All-Defensive Team
Stephanie Reid, Buffalo, G
Tinara Moore, Central Michigan, F
Janay Morton, Eastern Michigan, G
Quiera Lampkins, Ohio, G
Jasmine Weatherspoon, Ohio, F
2015-16 Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Quiera Lampkins, Ohio, G
2015-16 Mid-American Conference Co-Sixth Player of the Year
Jewel Cotton, Central Michigan, F
Kaayla McIntyre, Toledo, C
