Big South Announces 2016-17 Women's Basketball Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point sophomore guard Emma Bockrath and Campbell head coach Ronny Fisher have been voted the 2016-17 Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head coaches, it was announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office. The panel voted Liberty forward Keyen Green Freshman of the Year and Campbell guard MaKala Rouse as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Presbyterian College junior guard Janie Miles was honored as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in a vote of the league’s Sports Information Directors.
Bockrath (Dayton, Ohio) is the second Panther in three years to be voted Player of the Year and third overall. One of the most versatile players in the league, Bockrath ranked in the top 10 in the Big South in points (14.9), rebounds (6.4), assists (2.7), steals (1.4), field goal percentage (45.0) and minutes played (32.7) during conference action. She was the Big South Player of the Week twice in February, and during the month became the first Panther in five years to score 20 or more points in four straight contests. Bockrath led HPU with three double-doubles, reached double figures in scoring in 13 of her 18 conference appearances, and was one of two players in the league to finish in the top-10 in points, assists and rebounds. She has started at both guard and forward for the Panthers this season, and finished with overall totals of 12.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 defensive boards, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals. Bockrath received 121 total points (one first-place vote) in the voting, ahead of UNC Asheville’s Chatori Major (two first-place votes and 111 points) and Radford’s Destinee Walker (two first-place votes and 102 points).
Fisher is now a two-time Coach of the Year recipient -- and the second to be honored at different Big South members as he was the 2012-13 Coach of the Year while at Presbyterian. In his first season at the helm of the Camels in 2016-17 and predicted to finish eighth in the Big South preseason poll, Fisher directed his team to 21-8 overall record and a second-place Big South standing at 13-5 -- the Camels’ highest regular-season finish since rejoining the league in 2011-12. His squad became the fastest team in program history to reach the 20-win plateau (26 games) and was one of two Big South teams with at least 20 regular-season wins this year. Campbell leads the nation in scoring defense at 48.1 points allowed -- pacing ahead of the Big South single-season record, is also tops in the conference in scoring margin (+11.5), 3-point defense (27.9) and defensive rebounds (30.0). In Big South games, Fisher’s team held league foes to 49.6 points. He is Campbell’s second Big South Coach of the Year honoree, and finished with eight first-place votes and 24 total points, ahead of Radford’s Mike McGuire (19 points and one first-place vote) and Charleston Southern’s Fred Applin (8 points and the remaining first-place vote).
Green (Philadelphia, Pa.) is the first Lady Flame to be voted Freshman of the Year since 2001-02 and the fifth overall. She leads the Big South in rebounding (8.0), offensive boards (3.6) and double-doubles (8) and ranks second in field goal percentage with a 58.8 clip. Green is also among the league leaders in blocked shots (4th – 1.0) and scoring (9th – 12.3). The nation’s 6th-leading rebounder among freshmen, Green recorded five 20-point games, including a pair of 26-point outings. The eight-time Big South Freshman of the Week made the All-Tournament teams at the Navy Classic and Virginia Cavalier Classic earlier this season. In Big South action, Green averaged 13.4 points (tops among league freshmen) with 7.9 rebounds, in addition to a league-best 62.4 field goal percentage. She was also second in offensive rebounding (3.5) and blocked shots (1.3) in conference competition. Green received eight first-place vote and 44 points, ahead of Radford’s Khiana Johnson (28 points and the remaining two first-place votes).
Rouse (Greensboro, N.C.) is the second Campbell player to be honored as Big South Defensive Player of the Year. She leads the squad and owns the third-most steals in the conference with 58, and her 2.0 per game average ranks fourth. Rouse is also Campbell’s leader in blocked shots, and spearheads the Camel defensive unit that ranks first nationally in scoring defense. In Big South games, Rouse was among the league leaders in steals and blocked shots. She collected five first-place votes and 18 total points in the voting, ahead of Radford’s Jayda Worthy (two first-place votes and 14 points) and UNC Asheville’s KJ Weaver (two first-place votes and 13 points).
Miles (Clemson, S.C.) is a 4.0 student in Biology and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV team in February. She is PC’s top rebounder and ranks third on the squad in scoring, and posted her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds at East Carolina. Miles is the second Blue Hose player to be voted Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and first since 2012-13.
Joining Bockrath on the All-Conference First-Team are Major, Walker, Worthy and Winthrop’s Erica Williams. The entire 2016-17 All-Conference team is as follows:
2016-17 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE
First-Team All-Conference
Emma Bockrath, G, Soph., High Point
Chatori Major, G, Sr., UNC Asheville
Destinee Walker, G/F, Soph., Radford
Jayda Worthy, F, Jr., Radford
Erica Williams, G/F, Sr., Winthrop
Second-Team All-Conference
Kaylah Keys, G, Sr., High Point
Keyen Green, F, Fr., Liberty
Summer Price, G, Jr., Campbell
Cortney Storey, G, Jr., Presbyterian
Ke’Asia Jackson, G, Soph., Charleston Southern
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Alyssa Mann, G, R-Sr., Charleston Southern
Tierra Huntsman, G, R-Jr., Gardner-Webb
MaKala Rouse, G, Jr., Campbell
Janayla White, F, Jr., Radford
KJ Weaver, C, Sr., UNC Asheville
All-Freshman Team
Keyen Green, F, Liberty
Khiana Johnson, G, Radford
Ola Makurat,G/F, Liberty
Iva Ilic, G, Liberty
Camryn Brown, G, High Point
All-Academic Team
Brianna Cribb, G/F, Sr., Campbell
Alyssa Mann, G, Gr., Charleston Southern
Alexus Hill, G, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Lindsey Edwards, G/F, Soph., High Point
Audrey Rettstatt, G/F, Sr., Liberty
Micaela Ellis, G, Jr., Longwood
Janie Miles, G, Jr., Presbyterian
Rachael Ross, C, Gr., Radford
Chatori Major, G, Sr., UNC Asheville
Naima Jackson, G, Jr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Emma Bockrath, G, Soph., High Point
Freshman of the Year
Keyen Green, F, Liberty
Defensive Player of the Year
MaKala Rouse, G, Jr., Campbell
Coach of the Year
Ronny Fisher, Campbell
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Janie Miles, G, Jr., Presbyterian