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Women's Basketball Earns First Ever MAC Major Awards Sweep
March 8, 2008
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team saw yet another Mid-American Conference first as head coach Curt Miller, senior Kate Achter and freshman Lauren Prochaska swept the Coach, Player and Freshman of the Year awards as announced by the conference offices on Saturday (Mar. 8). Complete Mid-American Conference Release in PDF Format
Though several programs have been awarded two of the three distinctions, the Bowling Green women's basketball program became the first to bring home hardware in all three categories in the same season.
Miller, who earned his fourth consecutive C-O-Y award, joins Toledo head coach Mark Ehlen as the only head coach to be honored in four separate seasons. He is also the only coach in 26 seasons to win it in more than two consecutive occasions. Miller, who is in his seventh season with the Falcons, has led BGSU to 20-plus wins over the past five seasons including a 24-6 record in 2007-08. He and the Orange and Brown also posted a MAC best fourth regular season championship, going 13-3 in the league and becoming the only program to win four regular season championships over four years.
Bowling Green also earned their second consecutive Player-of-the-Year nod as senior Kate Achter was named the most outstanding MAC women's basketball athlete. The Oregon, Ohio native will graduate from Bowling Green not only with a degree in Sport Management, but with a well documented career on the hardwood spanning from the BGSU annual chronicles to the league's archives as well. As a senior, she has dominated the assist category at the team and conference levels as well as ranking amongst the best of the best throughout the NCAA. Achter is just the third Falcon player to earn a league P-O-Y honor. Last season Ali Mann shared the award with Western Michigan's Carrie Moore while Jackie Motcyka won the award in back-to-back seasons, 1986-87 and 1987-88. Achter, a two-time All-MAC second team selection, headlined a group of five athletes on the 2008 All-MAC first team ballot. She was joined by guards Tiera DeLaHoussaye (Western Michigan), Porchia Green, (Ball State) and Amanda Jackson (Miami) as well as forward Lauren Kohn (Ohio). As a top ten rookie scorer on the national short list, Prochaska led BGSU in scoring throughout the season as a first-year player and was ranked among the top five in the league for much of the MAC season. In her initial season, Prochaska led the league over the last eight weeks in free throw shooting percentage and was ranked as high as second nationally in the statistical category. The Plain City, Ohio native joins former Falcons Mann (2004), Sara Puthoff (1995), Lori Albers (1990) and Motycka (1986) as a recipient of the F-O-Y award. Prochaska also found placement on the All-MAC second and freshman teams. Along with Prochaska, the second team consisted of Stephanie Bennett (guard, Buffalo), Whitney Lowe (forward, Northern Illinois), Colleen Russell (center, Eastern Michigan) and Jenna Schone (guard, Miami). Additionally, guards Chenel Harris (Kent State), Kara Murphy (Akron) and Keyla Snowden (Akron) accompanied Prochaska on the All-Freshman team, Ball State's Emily Maggert was the lone post player of the all-rookie group. Murphy, who joined Prochaska and teammate Snowden as one of the national top 15 freshman scorers, was the only other newcomer to earn placement on more than one all-MAC list; she was voted to the third team. Bowling Green, the tournament's top seed, will sit idle until Tuesday, Mar. 11 when they face the winner of Monday's Northern Illinois/Kent State match-up. Tuesday's quarterfinal action is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena. First Team Kate Achter, Guard, Bowling Green Tiera DeLaHoussaye, Guard, Western Michigan Porchia Green, Guard, Ball State Amanda Jackson, Guard, Miami Lauren Kohn, Forward, Ohio
Second Team Third Team Honorable Mention All- Freshman Team
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