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 Lauren Powell was tabbed as the consensus Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, as well as second team All-SoCon by the media. |
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Feb. 28, 2006
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina guard Lauren Powell, who led the all league rookies in scoring, was today tabbed as the consensus Southern Conference Freshman of the Year by both the league's head coaches and media. The Asheville, N.C., native highlighted the five-member, All-Freshman team as chosen by the coaches, as well as earned second team All-SoCon honors from the media after finishing the season ranked eighth overall in the conference in scoring and fourth in both 3-point field goal percentage and 3-pointers made per game.
Powell joins three Lady Catamounts who had previously been tabbed as the SoCon's top rookie. Pam Owens earned the award in 1993-94, with April Fleck honored in 1997-98 and Tiffany Hamm selected in 2000-01. Powell also joins four previous All-Freshman team selections in Hamm (2001), Ki-Ki Glass (2002), Kala Greene (2003), and current WCU junior, Erin May (2004). Powell's second team All-SoCon selection by the media makes her the 10th Lady Catamount all-time to receive post-season accolades and gives Western its eighth, second team selection all-time and just the second by the media since the delineation between it and the coaches awards started in 2000.
"I am very excited for and proud of Lauren on earning this recognition," said Western Carolina head coach Kellie Harper. "From a coaching staff perspective, we knew coming in that she would be a 3-point shooting threat, but she has worked to find other ways to score."
Powell led the Lady Catamounts in scoring this season, finishing the regular season with an 11.9 points per game average after recording double-digits in 19-of-27 games (70.4-percent). She averaged just over a dozen points per game in SoCon play, recording her career-high with 22 points after halftime in the overtime win at home over Furman back on Jan. 21. Powell shot 42.9-percent from behind the 3-point arc to rank as the highest first-year player while averaging 2.33 treys per game, both fourth-best in the league. Powell opened her career with a bang, draining a career-best six 3-pointers to tally a then-career high 20 points in the season's second game against Michigan State, which ranked 10th at the time.
According to the most recent NCAA statistics released on Tuesday (2/28), Powell ranks 19th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage. Her percentage leads all freshmen in the nation and she ranks second in 3-point field goals made per game (2.33) among rookies. Powell additionally ranks 18th in field goal percentage (45.2-percent) and her string of 11-straight, double-digit scoring games is tied for seventh among national freshmen.
SoCon Freshman of the Year, Lauren Powell |
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Entering this week's conference tournament, Powell has already etched her name into both the single-season and career WCU record books with her 3-point shooting prowess. Her 63 made treys ranks fourth on the WCU single-season charts, three shy of third and just five shy of the best seasonal performance in Western's history. The 63 trifectas also already ranks Powell eighth on the Catamounts' career chart, nine shy of seventh. Her 147 attempts ranks as the seventh-most in a single-season in Western history, two shy of sixth.
Western Carolina opens play in the annual Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship on Friday at the McAlister Field House in Charleston, S.C. The Catamounts will face the Appalachian State Mountaineers at 11:00 am in the first game of the quarterfinals. WCU swept ASU this season in both regular season meetings, winning by an average of 13.5 points per game.
Friday's game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Cullowhee on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 or on-line at www.WWCUFM.com and in Asheville on 1350 AM WZGM in Asheville or on-line at www.fxsports1350.com.
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