CONWAY, Ark. - In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), senior guard Melanie Auguste of Colorado College was selected as SCAC Women's Basketball Player-of-the-Year and Centre College head coach Wendie Austin-Robinson was named SCAC Coach-of-the-Year. The coaches also voted on Newcomer and Defensive Players-of-the-Year, and first-year guard Maggie Prewitt of Centre College and senior guard Hannah Brooks of Oglethorpe University were the respective recipients. Complete Release

A preseason D3hoops.com all-America, Auguste is on the verge of becoming the first player in SCAC history to lead the league in both scoring (20.2 points per game) and assists (7.1 assists per game). She is also third in the league in rebounding (8.8 per game) as well as second in steals (2.3 per game). During the regular season, the senior scored in double figures in 23 of 24 games and had 20+ points in 12 games and 30+ points in two more. Auguste, who was a three-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week during the 2008-09 season, tallied 11 double-doubles and two triple doubles and will finish her career with 1,500+ points, 700+ rebounds and 500+ assists. Currently, she ranks 12th in nation in scoring and third in assists. Auguste was recently recognized as one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy - a national award created by the Rotary Club of Salem, Va., to honor the most outstanding men's and women's Division III basketball players of the year.

In her fourth season as the head coach of her alma mater, Austin-Robinson led Centre to a 17-win regular season - the same number of wins the program has posted in the last three years combined. The Colonels finished the rugged SCAC East Division schedule with a 10-4 mark, which included a win over 14th-ranked DePauw - the program's first victory against the Indiana Tigers since the 2001-02 season. Austin-Robinson is the first Centre women's coach to earn the league's Coach-of-the-Year honor since Jennifer Ruff was selected SCAC COTY in back-to-back seasons in 1999-00 and 2000-01.

Austin-Robinson received six votes for Coach-of-the-Year while Oglethorpe's Ron Sattele finished with three votes. Liz Campbell of Colorado College and Kris Huffman of DePauw received one vote each.

Brooks, at 5'7", always draws the opponent's most dangerous offensive threat - no matter if that player is a point guard, a power forward or, sometimes, even a post player. One of the team's senior captains, Brooks led the Oglethorpe defense to program-best marks in scoring defense (66.4 points allowed per game) and field goal percentage defense (38.4%). She also chipped in on offense for the 10th-ranked Petrels, averaging 5.8 points and 3.0 assists while grabbing 5.3 boards per contests.

Brooks garnered five votes for Defensive Player-of-the-Year, followed by Samantha Clark of Hendrix College with three votes and Chelsea Goodman of Centre with two votes. Krista Prato Matthews of Trinity University picked up the remaining vote.

Prewitt led all SCAC first-year players in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game (12th overall in the SCAC). She also averaged 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists (fifth in the SCAC) and 2.0 steals per game (10th in the SCAC) and shot 43.3% from the floor, 81.4% from the charity stripe and 38.9% from beyond the arc. Since the conference began selecting a Newcomer-of-the-Year in 1999-2000, Prewitt is the first player from Centre to earn the honor.

Prewitt received six votes for Newcomer-of-the-Year while Ali Marzella of Trinity University picked up two votes. Becky Luetjen of Colorado College, Janice Okeke of Millsaps College and Jenilee Pate of Rhodes College all received one vote.

This season the conference was represented by one of the most impressive group of seniors to ever don the hardwood. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the All-SCAC First Team is composed completely of upperclassmen. Senior guard Katie Kulavic of Oglethorpe, senior guard Cassie Pruzin of DePauw, senior post Krista Prato Matthews of Trinity and senior guard Anna Findley of Oglethorpe joined Auguste on the All-SCAC First Team.

Kulavic is just the second player in conference history to earn All-SCAC First Team honors four times, joining Lauren Turnbow of Hendrix, who was on the team every year from 1996-97 to 1999-00. With a career-high 33 points on Feb. 22 against Centre, Kulavic became the league's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Tori Huggins of Hendrix with the 1,847th point of her career. Last season's SCAC Player-of-the-Year and a D3hoops.com preseason all-America selection, she also moved past 500 career rebounds this season and has 580 heading into the conference tournament. Kulavic, who was a two-time conference Player-of-the-Week this season, is averaging 15.3 points (sixth in the SCAC), 5.4 rebounds (20th in the SCAC), 3.7 assists (tied for seventh in the SCAC) and 1.9 steals (tied for 12th in the SCAC) per game while shooting 51.9% (second in the SCAC) from the floor and 76.8% (10th in the SCAC) from the free-throw line.

Pruzin is averaging 12.5 points (15th in the SCAC), 4.8 assists (second in the SCAC), 2.1 steals (eighth in the SCAC) per game while shooting 37.4% from the three-point line (eighth in the SCAC) and 84.1% from the charity stripe (fourth in the SCAC), including 14.0 points, 4.9 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game in conference games. A D3hoops.com preseason all-America selection this year, Kulavic will leave DePauw as the school's all-time three-point field goal leader (227 - sixth in SCAC history), second in assists (432 - fifth in SCAC history) and steals (234 - 11th in SCAC history), fourth in scoring (1,290 points) and 10th in rebounding (574).

The league's all-time leading rebounder and fourth member of the D3hoops.com preseason all-America team, Prato-Matthews finished the regular season averaging 17.3 points (third in the SCAC) and a conference-best 13.2 boards per game - a total that would be the highest single-season average in league history. Prato-Matthews shattered the SCAC career rebounding record earlier this season and has 978 heading into this weekend's tournament. In addition, she is second in league history in blocked shots (211) and in the top 20 in career SCAC scoring with 1,367 points. Despite playing much of the season with a nagging foot injury, which ultimately cost her four games, Prato-Matthews was a two-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week and shot 49.5% (sixth in the SCAC) from the field.

Findley currently ranks second in the SCAC in scoring (17.7 ppg) and has moved to fourth on the league's all-time scoring list with 1,775 points heading into this weekend's tournament.  A deadly three-point shooter, Findley has nailed 297 from distance for her career - the most by any SCAC man or woman - and has a league-best 73 this season. The SCAC Player-of-the-Week in Week 7, she also leads the league in free-throw percentage (88.8%) and is third in three-point field goal percentage (42.9%), tied for fifth in steals (2.2 per game), 11th in field goal percentage and 13th in assists per game. One of five Oglethorpe players with 500+ career rebounds, Findley has 560 caroms through the regular season - averaging 4.7 per game in 2008-09.

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