Women's Hoops Holds Annual Awards Banquet :: XU Finished Year at 24-9

	Printer-Friendly Format E-mail this article Ta'Shia Phillips was honored as the team's Defensive Player of the Year.

Women's Hoops Holds Annual Awards Banquet

XU Finished Year at 24-9

April 9, 2008

CINCINNATI - Xavier University honored its women's basketball team on Wednesday at its annual awards banquet at the James Duff Banquet Facility at Cintas Center. The Musketeers finished the season with a 24-9 record and took home the championship hardware from the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament for the second straight year. The 24 wins were tied for the fourth most in school history and propelled XU to a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Xavier's appearance in the NCAA Tournament was its second-straight and marked its sixth appearance in the last 10 years.

The Banquet is usually dedicated to recognizing the seniors on the roster. However, the Musketeers, who had the youngest starting lineup of any team in the NCAA Tournament, do not have one senior on their roster.

Sophomore forward Maureen Hester was honored as the team's Most Improved Player. Hester started in all 33 of XU's games, averaging 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. She was also second on the team with a 39.1 3-point field goal percentage and led the squad by shooting 75.0 percent from the free throw line. Hester played in only 14 games during her freshman season, averaging 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.

Sophomore center Der-ryka Martin was selected to receive the Academic Award after showing significant improvement in the classroom this semester.

Junior guard Jerri Taylor earned mention as the Coaches Award honoree. Taylor averaged 11.2 points and shot a team-best 40.0 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in 32.4 minutes per game. Taylor, one of only two junior on the team, took on much more leadership responsibility this season and served as team captain.

Sophomore forward Amber Harris was honored as the Offensive Player of the Year after she put together another stellar season. Harris averaged a team-high 15.3 points and was second in the conference at 8.9 rebounds per game. She finished the year tops in the conference at 2.8 blocks per game and was the only Musketeer to earn a spot on the All-Atlantic 10 First Team.

This year's Defensive Player of the Year Award was bestowed upon freshman center Ta'Shia Phillips. Phillips was honored as the A-10 Freshman of the Year after averaging 14.0 points per game and a league-best 11.2 rebounds per game. Her 35 blocks this season were marked the sixth-highest single-season total in school history and her 371 boards established a new school record. Phillips was a big reason why XU finished the year eighth nationally in field goal percentage defense (35.2 percent) and seventh nationally in rebound margin (+8.6).