Women's basketball celebrates the 2016-17 season

Photo by: Greg Anderson

Women's basketball celebrates the 2016-17 season

April 18, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Badgers recognize award winners, letterwinners at annual banquet

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Women's Basketball team celebrated the 2016-17 season at their end of the year banquet on Sunday, April 9. The Badgers completed their first season under Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis with a 9-22 mark. UW surpassed last season's overall winning record, finished 11th in the Big Ten at 3-13 and ended the season winning their last 3 home games.

For the first time since 2013, UW won their first-round game in the Big Ten Tournament. The No. 11-seeded Badgers defeated No. 14-seed Rutgers 61-55 before falling to No. 6 Michigan State 70-63 in the second round.

All-Big Ten Honorees
Redshirt senior Avyanna Young and junior Cayla McMorris were honored for receiving Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.

Young started 20 games this season and led the team with 6.9 rebounds per game, ranking 10th in the Big Ten. Young also was second on the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game.

The 6-foot, 1-inch forward scored in double figures in 15 games, including three games with 20 or more points. Young had a team-best five double-doubles this season.

Young set or tied four career highs this season. The senior was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line at Iowa on Feb. 26, while she made a career best 10 free throws vs. Rutgers on March 1st. Young dished off a career-high five assists vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 27 and twice had a career-high three steals.

A 6-foot guard, McMorris led the Badgers with 12.3 points per game this season and scored in double figures in 22 games. The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, native scored 20-plus points in four games, including a career-high 31 points against Saint Francis on Nov. 13.

McMorris attempted and made the most free throws on the team, ranking ninth in the Big Ten for free throws made. She also ranked 13th in the Big Ten in free throw attempts. McMorris shot 119-150 (79.3 percent) from the line, which ranked ninth in the Big Ten.

Milestones Reached
Avyanna Young scored her 1,000th career point on Feb. 22 vs. Illinois and was presented the game ball from Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis. Young finished with 1,062 points in her career, averaging 9.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

Head Coach Jonathan Tsipis also received a game ball for winning his 100^th career game. The ball was presented by Senior Associate Athletic Director, Terry Gawlik. The victory over Illinois on Feb. 22 was the 100^th victory for Coach Tsipis. The first-year Badger mentor is 101-60 in five years as a Head Coach.

Letterwinners recognized
Seven Badgers were honored as first-year letterwinners and were presented with UW letter jackets. Freshmen Courtney Fredrickson, Suzanne Gilreath, Gabby Gregory, Abby Laszewski, and Kendra Van Leeuwen, as well as redshirt sophomore Ashley Kelsick and fifth-year senior, Kendall Shaw. Managers Kenny Wolfe and Nic Grotmol also received their first-year letter awards.

Second-year letterwinners Marsha Howard, sophomore, and Roichelle Marble, redshirt sophomore, received Wisconsin watches. Managers Emili Leyden, Jessica Reigh and Sam Vander Plas were also recognized as second-year letter winners.

Third-year letterwinners, redshirt junior Malayna Johnson, junior Cayla McMorris, and redshirt sophomore Lexy Richardson received red Wisconsin blankets.

Commemorating their careers, seniors Michaela Crall, Taylor Kuhn, Avyanna Young and manager, Katie Nord were presented with Wisconsin class rings.

Academic All-Big Ten Honors
Three Badgers earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for having a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

Taylor Kuhn earned her second straight Academic All-Big Ten honor. The 5-foot-10-inch guard from Medford, Wisconsin, will graduate in May with a degree in kinesiology. Malayna Johnson and Ashley Kelsick were also recognized. Johnson is majoring in rehabilitation psychology, while Kelsick is majoring in economics.

Additional academic awards were presented to Kuhn, Grace Mueller and Kendra Van Leeuwen who were named to the dean's list. Kuhn, Mueller, Van Leeuwen, and Kendall Shaw all have cumulative grade point averages of 3.5 or better. Also being recognized for GPAs of 3.0 or higher were Suzanne Gilreath, Abby Laszewski, Kelsick and Johnson.

Season Highlights
Suzanne Gilreath set a UW freshman season record with 55 3-pointers made on the season. The 5-foot-5-inch guard broke the old mark of 53 triples set by Jolene Anderson in 2004-05. Gilreath also set the season record for threes attempted with 170.

Cayla McMorris moved into eighth on the UW career record list with a free-throw percentage of 76.6 (164-214). McMorris made 23 straight shots from the charity stripe, which ties for second in the UW record book.

Two Badgers ranked among the most improved scorers in the Big Ten this season. Cayla McMorris was the fifth most improved scorer in the conference, upping her sophomore season total by 5.8 points per game. Marsha Howard ranked sixth, improving her scoring by 5.4 points per game.

Wisconsin had two 100-point games this season, marking the first time since 2000-01 that UW has scored 100-plus points twice in a season. The Badgers scored 100 points against Saint Francis on Nov. 13th and 103 points vs. Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 8.

UW's future looks bright with several underclassmen seeing significant playing time. Sophomore Marsha Howard was third on the team in scoring with 7.5 points per game while freshmen Courtney Fredrickson and Kendra Van Leeuwen earned starting roles as rookies.

The Badgers lose only two players, including one starter, to graduation. Wisconsin will return 83 percent of its points and 84.3 percent of its rebounds next season.