OUA ANNOUNCES WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EAST DIVISION MAJOR AWARD WINNERS AND ALL-STARS

HAMILTON, Ont. – This year’s first place Ottawa Gee-Gees lead the pack as Ontario University Athletics (OUA) announces the east division major award winners and all-stars.

The Gee-Gees have swept the major award winners and forward Hannah Sunley-Paisley (Toronto) has garnered her third straight east Player of the Year honour. The fifth-year player led the league with 406 total points, 18.45 points per game, and made the most field goals with 168 baskets. Sunley-Paisley finishes her career with 1,483 points which places her sixth in the OUA all-time record books. She also cleaned up on the glass this season, collecting 209 rebounds to bring her career total to 993 rebounds, pushing her into second on the all-time rebounds list. Sunley-Paisley has also been named a First-Team All-Star.

Ottawa native Bess Lennox completed her eligibility with the Gee-Gees this year and picked up two major awards as she has been named the Defensive Player of the Year and the Joy Bellinger Award winner, presented annually to a female student-athlete in recognition of outstanding service to the sport and to the advancement of university athletics. Lennox became OUA’s all-time rebound leader this season and is the only player to haul in over 1,000 boards. She also racked up 33 steals on the year and her presence in the paint strengthened the Gee-Gees’ defence. In addition to her athletic success, Lennox has been an Academic All-Canadian twice in her career and is balancing basketball with a Masters program. Outside the classroom and gymnasium, Lennox has developed an educational workshop for girls moving from high school to university and coached under-14 boys basketball teams while she was playing overseas in Australia and Switzerland. Lennox has also been named to the Second-Team All-Star squad.

First-year guard Kellie Ring takes home this year’s east Rookie of the Year honours. The Ottawa native jumped right into the action this year, dressing in all 22 games for the Gee-Gees and taking control of the offence. Ring dished out 105 assists on the year to finish second in OUA and also contributed defensively tallying 55 steals, good for seventh in the league. She has also been named to the east All-Rookie team.

Rounding out the major awards for this year is Ottawa’s Andy Sparks, taking home the Coach of the Year award. This is the second such award for Sparks after winning in 2008-09 as well. Sparks led the Gee-Gees to a 19-3 record, including a 16 game winning streak spanning from November 18 to February 4. Ottawa had a large recruiting class this year and the program looks poised to be successful for years to come in large part due to Sparks’ efforts.

Two student-athletes make their return to the First-Team All-Star list including Ryerson’s Ashley MacDonald (Port Colborne, Ont.) and Queen’s Brittany Moore (Hannon, Ont.). MacDonald led the league in scoring for much of the year and ultimately finished second with 401 points and an average of 18.23 points per game. She finishes her career with 1,218 points, placing her eighteenth in history. MacDonald logged the most minutes of any OUA player and helped the Rams top their win total from a season ago. Meanwhile, Brittany Moore has earned her fourth First-Team All-Star nod in her five year career. She racked up 378 points this season and averaged 17.18 points per game to finish fourth in the league and closed her career second in OUA all-time scoring with 1,652 points.

Carleton’s Alyson Bush (Ottawa) makes her second appearance on the First-Team after landing on the Second-Team a year ago. Bush averaged 13.86 points per game this year and was an outside threat as she finished the year in third with a 43.6 percent success rate from beyond the arc. Varsity Blues sophomore Jill Stratton (Etobicoke, Ont.) completes this year’s First-Team of all-stars. Last season’s east rookie of the year, Stratton averaged just over 14.5 points per game this season and was able to create opportunities for Toronto with her 63 steals.

Joining Bess Lennox on the Second-Team is teammate Jenna Gilbert (Ottawa). The Gee-Gees fourth-year forward led the league with 53 three-pointers, providing a balance for Ottawa both down low and from the outside.

Toronto’s Sherri Pierce (Brampton, Ont.) closes her five year career with her second straight Second-Team All-Star nod after averaging 12.05 points per game this season. Angela Tilk (Welland, Ont.) had a standout season down the street at Ryerson to earn her first all-star recognition. The fourth-year forward finished seventh in league scoring with 14.5 points per game and pulled down 207 rebounds, including a second-best 83 offensive boards. Rounding out the Second-Team of all-stars is Carleton’s Ashleigh Cleary (Kemptville, Ont.). Cleary was one of the league’s most accurate shooters, finishing tied for tenth with a field goal percentage of 44.6 while accumulating 238 points.

The top five rookies in the east division come from four different institutions. Joining rookie of the year Kellie Ring on the All-Rookie team is Ottawa’s Maddie Stephen (Toronto). On a team with the top two rebounders in OUA history, Stephen held her own, pulling down 92 boards and chipping in with 74 points in 16 games played. York Lions forward Samantha Ernest (Oakville, Ont.) takes her place on the All-Rookie team after dropping 204 points in her freshman campaign. Jenny Wright (Kingston, Ont.) had a solid start to her career as a Queen’s Gael, tallying 151 points and 106 rebounds while averaging 21.5 minutes of playing time. Finally, Carleton’s Chloe Levy (Whitby, Ont.) shot 33.3 percent from beyond the arc and has all the tools to have a successful OUA career.

The 2011-12 OUA women’s basketball west division major award winners and all-stars will be announced tomorrow, February 28, while the men’s awards will be announced at the Wilson Cup awards breakfast on Friday, March 2 in Waterloo.

Player of the Year: Hannah Sunley-Paisley – Ottawa
Rookie of the Year: Kellie Ring – Ottawa
Defensive Player of the Year: Bess Lennox – Ottawa
Joy Bellinger Award: Bess Lennox – Ottawa
Coach of the Year: Andy Sparks – Ottawa

First-Team
Hannah Sunley-Paisley – Ottawa
Alyson Bush – Carleton
Ashley MacDonald – Ryerson
Brittany Moore – Queen’s
Jill Stratton – Toronto

Second-Team
Bess Lennox – Ottawa
Ashleigh Cleary – Carleton
Jenna Gilbert – Ottawa
Angela Tilk – Ryerson
Sherri Pierce – Toronto

All-Rookie Team
Kellie Ring – Ottawa
Jenny Wright – Queen’s
Samantha Ernest – York
Maddie Stephen – Ottawa
Chloe Levy – Carleton