Porter Claims MVP Honor For Second Straight Year At Women’s Basketball Banquet – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/5/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 5, 1999
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Senior forward Marrita Porter, for the second consecutive year, was tabbed the Most Valuable Player of the Buckeye Basketball team at its postseason banquet held tonight at the Holiday Inn on the Lane.
Porter, who also repeated as a first team all-Big Ten pick, paced the Buckeyes at both ends of the court, averaging 14.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Her field goal shooting clip (.589) ranked among the best in the nation, while her 82.7 percent accuracy at the charity stripe (Big Ten) resulted in her earning the Top Free Throw Shooter award.
The Louisville, Ky., native exits the Ohio State program ranked ninth on the career scoring ladder (1,486 points) and 13th in career rebounds (602).
Earning the Phyllis J. Bailey Award for academic and athletic excellence, and dedication to the program was senior guard Roslyn Barker. An engineering major from Chicago, Ill., Barker prevailed as a defensive specialist and two-year starter, averaging 4.7 ppg and 3.0 rpg in her final campaign.
Both Barker and junior forward Michaela Moua came away with the Best Defensive Player honor for their unrelentess play throughout the season.
The Most Improved Player award also went to Moua who started the last 10 games of the season and 13 overall. A Vantaa, Finland native, Moua shot better than 55 percent from the floor, averaging 9.0 ppg and collected a second best 4.5 rpg.
Freshman guard Laura Ingham (1.4/1.1) claimed the Most Improved Scholar award having achieved the biggest improvement in her GPA this season.
Scholar-Athlete Awards went to freshmen Lauren Shenk (9.3/2.1), Tomeka Brown (4.4/1.8), Megan McCabe (1.5/1.8) and Ingham, sophomore Mandy Stanhope (1.7/1.3), and juniors Courtney Bale (transfer year) and Moua, all touting GPAs of 3.0 and higher.
The Buckeyes marked a 17-12 campaign, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years. OSUs fourth-place league finish (9-7) marked its highest since1993. Coach Beth Burns caps her second year at OSU with a 32-24 record and closes her first coaching decade with a 183-106 mark. Six letterwinners will return for the 1999-2000 season in addition to five newcomers in Bale, forward LaToya Turner (Pickerington), guard Tanya McClure (Gahanna Lincoln), forward DiDi Reynolds (Hopewell Loudon) and forward Dwan Shackleford (Newark).
-Go Bucks!-
