OGDEN, Utah (March 5, 2011)  - The Big Sky Conference has announced the Women’s Basketball All-Conference team and individual award winners for the 2011-12 season. The awards were decided following a vote by the league’s nine head coaches.

Brianne Ryan became the second Eastern Washington player in Big Sky history to earn the league’s Most Valuable Player Award. The senior was a unanimous first team selection. This is the second year in a row Ryan has been named to the all-conference first team. The only other EWU player to be named MVP was Julie Piper in 2009-10.

Ryan led the Eagles and the Big Sky in scoring this season with 19.3 points per game. She is a 5-10 senior from Lynden, Wash. Ryan has had four 30+ games this season and was named Player of the Week on three occasions. Ryan was named co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2009-10.

Northern Colorado’s D’shara Strange has been selected the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Last season, she was named Outstanding Freshman. This is the second time NC has been named Defensive Player of the Year. The only other time was last season by Courtney Stoermer. The sophomore from Fountain, Colo., ranks third in the conference in rebounds and tied for second in steals. She ranked tied for first in the Big Sky in defensive rebounds with 7.6. Strange was a unanimous first team selection.

Fantasia Hilliard of Sacramento State was named the league’s Outstanding Freshman and Kate Lanz of Portland State was selected as Top Newcomer. Both were unanimous decisions. Hilliard, from Sacramento, Calif., was the only freshman to rank in the Big Sky in scoring this season. She has 8.7 points per game and ranks second in assists with 4.9 assists per game. Hilliard is the first Sacramento State player to be named Outstanding Freshman. The only other regular-season individual award that SAC has won was Top Newcomer by Kim Sheehy in 2004-05. Lanz, a sophomore from Vancouver, Wash., and transfer from Oregon State, ranked third in the Big Sky in scoring with 15.6 points per game.

Others named to the first team were Katie Baker of Montana, who was a unanimous decision, Katie Bussey of Montana State, who was also a unanimous decision, Chelsea Pickering and Kaela Oakes of Idaho State.

The Big Sky Conference tournament will be March 8-10 in Pocatello, Idaho. In the first quarterfinal games, No. 3 seed Eastern Washington will see No. 6 seed Sacramento State at 5 p.m. MST. In the second quarterfinal game, No. 4 seed Montana State will face No. 5 seed Montana at 7:30 p.m. MST. The winners of the quarterfinal games will move on to play either the No. 2 seed Northern Colorado or the regular-season champion and tournament host Idaho State.

 

First Team                                       
Player, School|
Brianne Ryan, Eastern Washington#MVP

Kaela Oakes, Idaho State
Chelsea Pickering, Idaho State
Katie Baker, Montana#

Katie Bussey, Montana State#

D’shara Strange, Northern Colorado#

 

Chene Cooper, Eastern Washington

Rachel Semansky, Montana State         

Amy Patton, Northern Arizona
Eryn Jones, Portland State

Kylie Kuhns, Sacramento State

 

#Unanimous First Team selection

 

Honorable Mention:  Ashleigh Vella, Idaho State; Kenzie De Boer, Montana; Lauren Oosdyke, Northern Colorado; Kaisha Brown, Northern Colorado; Kate Lanz, Portland State; Alle Moreno, Sacramento State and Amanda Hughes, Weber State

Most Valuable Player: Brianne Ryan, Sr., Eastern Washington

Defensive Player of the Year: D’shara Strange, So., Northern Colorado

Top Newcomer: Kate Lanz, So., Portland State

Outstanding Freshman: Fantasia Hilliard, Sacramento State