MAC Announces MAC Women's Basketball Player, Coach and Freshman of the Year
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced Tuesday the final regular season awards on the eve of the 2016 MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament moving to Quicken Loans Arena, with unveiling of the 2015-16 Mid-American Player, Coach and Freshman of the Year, as voted by the head coaches, sports information directors and media members of the Mid-American Conference.
Ball State’s senior guard Nathalie Fontaine received the top player honors, being named the 2015-16 MAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. The Stockholm, Sweden native crossed the Atlantic four years ago to play basketball in Muncie, Ind. for the Cardinals and has left an everlasting mark on the program’s history. On the final play of her last home game in Worthen Arena, Fontaine tallied a layup at the buzzer to became Ball State women's basketball's all-time leading scorer. The basket gave Fontaine 2,092 points, one more than Tamara Bowie compiled from 2000 to 2003. She currently sits at 2,114 points in her Cardinals career.
During her four years at Ball State, Fontaine has started 125 of the team’s 127 games they have competed in and has led the team in scoring all four years. She was named Second-Team All-MAC in each of her first two seasons and named First-Team All-MAC last season and this year. During the 2015-16 campaign, Fontaine 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. She becomes the fourth player in Ball State history to earn the MAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year honor, joining Jenny Eckert (1990), Tamara Bowie (2001 & 2003) and Kate Endress (2005).
Ball State head coach Brady Sallee had this to say about his program's all-time leading scorer. "So so happy for Nat (Fontaine)! This young lady bought into a vision we had for the Ball State Women's Basketball program and from the moment she arrived on our campus has done nothing but deliver. I'm humbled to have been able to coach her and appreciate my peers In The conference recognizing what I have known for some time, Nat is a special player and special person. Nat would also be the first to tell you that without great teammates an award like this never happens. It's truly a great day to be a Cardinal!"
Central Michigan head coach, Sue Guevara, was named the 2015-16 MAC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year after guiding the Chippewas to a MAC West Division Title this season. It was the second division title she has grabbed in her tenure with CMU. Picked to finish fifth in the MAC West during this year’s preseason poll, Guevara has led Central Michigan to a 20-9 overall record, a 14-4 mark in league play and a No. 2 seed in this weeks MAC Women's Basketball Tournament. It was the fifth time in Guevara’s nine seasons that the Chippewas have tallied at least 20 wins. CMU used a high-powered offense this season to propel them to the top of the MAC West. It averaged a league best 74.7 points per game during the 2015-16 campaign and had a +7.4 scoring margin which ranked third in the MAC. The Chippewas were efficient from all scoring aspects as they ranked second in the conference in field goal percentage (.425), three-point percentage (.340) and free throw percentage (.735). They were also fantastic on the glass this season as they were the MAC leaders in rebounding per game (44.1) and rebounding margin (+7.6). Guevara becomes the third Central Michigan head coach to be chosen for the honor, joining Laura Golden (1984) and Donita Davenport (1985).
“I appreciate it, I’m grateful for it,” Guevara said in response to her winning the honor. “I think we exceeded everyone else’s expectations because we are so young. We had limited minutes coming back, limited production coming back. “Was it a rebuilding year? Absolutely. The work ethic that this group has -- the will, the want, the determination. I’ve said this all along I feel like this is the most coachable team I’ve ever had. It’s been a lot of work and we’re not done. I’m just grateful for where I am.”
To round out this year’s regular season awards, Central Michigan’s first-year guard Presley Hudson was named the 2015-16 MAC Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Year. Hudson was also honored yesterday after being named to the Second-Team All-MAC Team. The Wayland, Mich. native was a key component of Central Michigan’s league best offense as she recorded per game averages of 13.8 points (13th in the MAC), 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists (9th in the MAC). Hudson currently ranks second on the team in three-pointers made with 73 and has been excellent from the charity stripe, owning a .895 free throw percentage on the season. She was also named MAC West Player of the Week during the opening week of the 2015-16 campaign.
Head Coach Sue Guevara on Hudson winning the honor, “I’m very, very happy for Pres (Hudson) because of all the hard work she put in, the time put in off the court, whether it’s watching tape, working on specific parts of their game, finding their weaknesses and work to try and get better.” She continued to say, “Pres, you look at her size and (wonder), can she defend? She’s really worked at it. You look at her ability to read screens and how to create, and she’s just very unselfish. Our kids look to her and they believe in her, as a freshman. They are very supportive of her, give her a lot of confidence".
The MACtion moves to the Q in Cleveland, Ohio beginning Wednesday, March 9th at noon when #1 Ohio faces #8 Buffalo, followed by #4 Toledo facing #5 Akron.
