Utah State Women's Basketball Concludes Season with Annual Banquet & Awards

Utah State [University] women’s basketball held its annual end-of-the-year banquet Thursday [April 21, 2011] honoring the 2010-11 team that made the first postseason appearance for Utah State since the 1982 season. Along with handing out individual awards, a highlight video recapping the year was shown.

Utah State ended the season with an 18-14 record, which is the most wins in Utah State history. USU finished third in the Western Athletic Conference and advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament for the second time in school history. Utah State also made its first-ever trip to the WNIT, defeating Arizona 103-95 in the first round. The 103 points was the most points scored by the Aggies since a 96-39 win against Southern Idaho in 1984. It was also the first time that USU scored 100 points since Utah State beat New Mexico State, 105-98 Feb. 20, 1982. The Aggies would eventually fall to BYU in the second round.

During the banquet, Utah State recognized three players who received various awards from the Western Athletic Conference, including senior guard Alice Coddington (all-defensive team), junior forward Ashlee Brown (First-team all-WAC, WAC Athlete of the Week) and sophomore guard Devyn Christensen (WAC Athlete of the Week).

As for team honors, the Blue Vase award, closely related to a most inspirational award, was given to sophomore guard Jenna Johnson. Senior guards LaCale Pringle-Buchanan and Amber White both received the Team Player award. The Most Improved Player award was given to freshman guard Jennifer Schlott. Brown was named the Offensive Player of the Year while sophomore center Banna Diop and Coddinton were named co-Defensive Players of the Year.

In lieu of awards off the court, strength coach Kyle Skinner honored Coddington with the Outstanding Strength and Conditioning Award and Coddington also earned the Excellence in the Classroom award. Senior forward Stacey Howard was the recipient of the Big Blue Scholarship Award.

Utah State Team Honors

Blue Vase (Most Inspirational) — Jenna Johnson

Team Player — LaCale Pringle-Buchanan, Amber White

Outstanding Strength and Conditioning — Alice Coddington

Big Blue Scholarship — Stacey Howard

Excellence in the Classroom — Alice Coddington

Most Improved — Jen Schlott

Offensive Player of the Year — Ashlee Brown

Defensive Player(s) of the Year — Banna Diop, Alice Coddington

All-Western Athletic Conference Selections

Coach of the Year — Raegan Pebley

First Team — Ashlee Brown