JACKSON, Miss. - In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), junior guard Maggie Prewitt of Centre College was selected as SCAC Women's Basketball Player-of-the-Year while head coaches Kris Huffman of DePauw University and Chuck Winkelman of Millsaps College were named SCAC Co-Coaches-of-the-Year. The coaches also voted on Newcomer and Defensive Players-of-the-Year, and first-year guard Chelsea Leeder of Southwestern University and senior guard Katie Mathews of DePauw University were the respective recipients. It is the second consecutive year Mathews has been named the league's Defensive POTY. Complete Release
Prewitt currently leads the SCAC in assists with 106 (4.21 per game) and is also in the top 10 in the league in scoring (18.8 points per game - second), free throw percentage (81.7 percent - third), three-point field goal percentage (42.3 percent - second) and three-point field goals made (56 – tied for fifth). Just a junior, her 1,256 career points already constitute the second-highest total by any Centre player in the SCAC era – behind former teammate Chelsea Goodman (1,365). Prewitt is the first Centre women's basketball player to earn POTY honors since current head coach Wendie Austin-Robinson won back-to-back conference Player-of-the-Year awards in 1992-1993 and 1993-1994.
Prewitt received seven votes for Player-of-the-Year while Sharwil Bell of Rhodes College finished with two votes. Katie Mathews and Katie Aldrich – both of DePauw – along with Christina Byler of Hendrix College received one vote each.
In her 18th season as the head coach of DePauw, Huffman has compiled a 22-3 overall record (15-1 in the SCAC) heading into this weekend's conference tournament. She picked up her 400th career victory on Feb. 13, in an 87-41 victory over visiting Sewanee. That victory gave DePauw its 10th straight 20-win season and 14th in the last 15 years. The seven-time SCAC Coach-of-the-Year and two-time WBCA National Coach-of-the-Year, Huffman's Tigers won their last 63 SCAC home games and she will exit the conference with the highest winning percentage (.802 entering the tournament) of any coach – active or non-active – who has been in the league five or more years.
Winkelman took over a Millsaps program that had won just one game a year ago (against 24 losses) and, in his first year in Jackson, finished with a 12-13 overall mark (8-8 in the SCAC) – an 11-game turnaround. No stranger to winning in the SCAC, Winkelman posted an overall record of 168-66 (.718 winning percentage) in nine seasons at Hendrix College. He won or shared three conference titles and was the SCAC Coach-of-the-Year in 1995-96. Winkelman became the sixth-fastest coach in Division III to reach 100 career victories while at Hendrix.Huffman and Winkelman each received five votes to share Coach-of-the-Year honors. Trinity University head coach Amie Bradley and Centre head coach Wendie Austin-Robinson received one vote each.
Huffman and Winkelman each received five votes to share Coach-of-the-Year honors. Trinity University head coach Amie Bradley and Centre head coach Wendie Austin-Robinson received one vote each.
The league's two-time Defensive Player-of-the-Year, Mathews draws the toughest defensive assignments for DePauw and has helped lead the Tigers to their lowest opponent scoring average in school history during the regular season (50.1 ppg - also on pace for the SCAC single-season record). Mathew's honor marks the fifth time in six years that a DePauw player has won the league's top defender award as she follows Lindsay Houin in 2005-06 and Kalei Lowes in 2006-07 and 2007-08. A three-year starter, Mathews averages 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game and has raised her game offensively this season. The senior averages 12.0 points (16th in the SCAC) and 3.9 assists (third in the SCAC) while shooting 50.2 percent from the field. Her 2.9 turnover-to-assist ratio leads the SCAC and is second-best in the nation. Mathews was also selected First Team All-SCAC.
In the vote for Defensive Player-of-the-Year, Mathews garnered seven votes, followed by Becky Leutjen of Colorado College who received two votes. Abby Dietert of Trinity, Sarah Giles of Oglethorpe University and Shatoya White of Hendrix received one vote each.
Southwestern's Leader ranked in the top 10 in four SCAC categories during the regular season to earn Newcomer-of-the-Year honors. She led the league in steals per game (2.5) and was seventh in scoring (14.0 points per game), 10th in assists per game (2.8) and fifth in three-point field goals made (56). Leader was also 14th in both rebounding (6.5 per game) and blocks (0.8 per game). Since the conference began selecting a Newcomer-of-the-Year in 1999-2000, Leader is the first player from Southwestern – man or woman – to earn the honor.
Leader received eight votes for Newcomer-of-the-Year while Jamie Tate of Hendrix College picked up two votes in the NOTY voting, while Shatoya White of Millsaps College and Paige Baechle of Centre each received a vote.
As for the other members of the All-SCAC First Team, Prewitt and Mathews are joined on the squad by junior forward Sharwil Bell of Rhodes, junior forward Becky Leutjen of Colorado College and senior forward Christina Byler of Hendrix.
Bell, the SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year last season, picked up where she left a year ago, leading the conference in scoring during the regular season by averaging 19.4 points per game. Should she finish the season as the league's top scorer, Bell would be the first woman's player from Rhodes to win an SCAC scoring title since Taylor Cook did it in 2003-04. She recorded 10 double-doubles during the season and also grabbed 8.8 rebounds per game (tied for fourth in the SCAC) and averaged 2.5 steals per game (second in the SCAC).
Colorado College's Luetjen ranked in the top 10 in SCAC during the regular season in scoring (17.6 points per game – third), rebounding (8.9 rebounds per game – third), free-throw percentage (80.4 percent – fifth), steals (2.0 steals per game – seventh) and field goal percentage (45.5 percent – 10th). She was also among the league leaders in assists and blocks. Leutjen led the team in scoring 16 times and rebounding 17 times, and scored 30+ points twice this season, and went 20+ 10 times while reaching double figures in 23 of 25 games. The versatile junior tallied eight double-doubles for the season.
Byler, a four-time all-SCAC performer (twice Second Team; twice First Team), averaged 15.7 points (sixth in the SCAC) and 6.5 rebounds (15th in the SCAC) per game during the regular season. The senior also made 55 three-pointers (third in the SCAC) and shot 75.6 percent from the free throw line (13th in the SCAC) and 39.6 percent (fourth in the SCAC) from three-point range. With 1,669 career points and 736 career rebounds heading into the conference tournament, Byler needs 31 more points to become just the second player in league history to score 1,700+ career points and grab 700+ career rebounds. Heather Francouer of Oglethorpe finished her career with 1,795 points and 768 rebounds. A D3hoops All-Region selection last season, Byler played on USA DIII National Team in Brazil this past summer.
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