SIUE's Shronda Butts was named the 2015-16 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year while the Cougars' CoCo Moore and Belmont's Sally McCabe shared the OVC Defensive Player of the Year award. Belmont's Darby Maggard was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year while Coach of the Year honors went to UT Martin's Kevin McMillan.
Butts, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, earns Player of the Year honors after being selected as the Preseason Player of the Year. The first team All-OVC selections ranks 18th in the nation with a league-leading 21.0 points per game. She is also 11th in the NCAA with 610 total points this season. The senior guard has scored in double-figures in all but two games this season, including recording 20 or more points 17 times this season. She became the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000-plus points in career at SIUE. Butts also became the sixth player in SIUE history to make 150 or more free throws in a season. She becomes the first Cougar to earn Player of the Year honors.
A native of Mt. Juliet, Tenn, McCabe ranks second in the league with 52 blocked shots. The sophomore center tallied 34 blocks in OVC action to rank first. McCabe has recorded a career-high four blocks four times this season. The All-OVC First team selection is also averaging 11.7 points per game this year and has reached double-digits 20 times this season. She is the first Bruin to win this honor.
Moore, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., ranks among league leaders with 65 steals this year. The senior guard has recorded at least one steal in 25 of 27 games this season,including tying a career-high with five steals at Southeast Missouri. Moore also recently notched her 1,000th career point. She has scored in double-digits in eight straight games. She is the first Cougar to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors.
A freshman guard from Larwill, Ind., Maggard ranks among league-leaders with 12.4 points per game this year. The All-OVC first team and All-Newcomer pick has reached double-digits in scoring 19 times this season, scoring a career-high 26 at UT Martin. She is second in the league with 150 assists and 5.2 assist per game. Maggard has dished out 10 assists on three occasions. She is the first Bruin to win Freshman of the Year honors.
McMillan earns his third overall and second straight OVC Coach of the Year award. He becomes just the second coach in league history to win the honor in back-to-back years, joining Tennessee State's Teresa Phillips who won the award in 1992-93 and 1993-94. McMillan led his team to its third straight regular season title after posting a 14-2 OVC mark and a 21-8 overall record. It marks the fifth 20-win season in McMillan's career. He currently sits seventh in the OVC with 141 career victories. The Skyhawks will enter the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed for the fourth time in five years. It marks the fourth time a Skyhawk coach has won the award.
ALL-OVC
Joining Butts, McCabe and Maggard as first team-selections are Austin Peay senior guard Tiasha Gray, Belmont sophomore guard Kylee Smith, Eastern Kentucky junior forward Jalen O'Bannon, Murray State sophomore guard/forwared Ke'Shunan James, Tennessee State junior forward Jayda Johnson, Tennessee Tech senior guard Samaria Howard and UT Martin redshirt-senior Haley Howard.
Gray, a native of Clarksville, Tenn. ranks third in the league with 20.4 points per game while ranking first in steals (2.8 spg) and assists (5.4 apg). She is also the league's career active leader in points with 1,885.
A native of Alpharetta, Ga., Smith is ninth in the OVC with 13.9 points per game. She is also among the league's leaders in rebounding (5.9 rpg), assists (3.4 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.418), three-pointers made per game (2.3) and free throw percentage (.755).
O'Bannon, a native of Memphis, Tenn. ranks 14th in the nation with 15 double-doubles this year. She leads the conference with 10.0 rebounds per game while ranking fifth with 17.4 points each time out. O'Bannon is sixth in the league with a 50.4 field goal percentage.
A product of Jackson, Tenn. James is fourth in the league with 17.8 points per game while also ranking about OVC leaders with 6.1 rebounds each time out. She is also eighth with 54 steals this year.
Johnson, a native of Knoxville, Tenn. is averaging 15.6 points this year to rank sixth in the OVC. She has reached double-digits in points in all but four games this season.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla. Samaria Howard is 19th in the nation and second in the OVC with 21.0 points per game this year. In league play, Howard has put up 23.1 points per game which is leading the Conference.
Haley Howard, a product of Whiteland, Ind., has scored in double-figures in 14 of her last 15 games including hitting the 20-point mark four straight times during that stretch. She is currently seventh in the league with 14.8 points per game.
Earning second team honors were Eastern Kentucky senior guard Shameekia Murray (Claxton, Ga.), Morehead State junior guard Brianna McQueen (Jonesboro, Ga.), Southeast Missouri junior guard Bri Mitchell (Germantown, Tenn.), Tennessee State junior guard I'mani Davis (Tulsa, Okla.) and redshirt-junior guard Jessy Ward (Claksville, Tenn.)
Murray is eighth in the league with 14.3 points per game while McQueen has put up 15.7 points each time out this year. Mitchell is among leauge leaders with 13.7 points per game while Davis has recorded 12.7 points each time out to rank 15th in the conference. Ward leads the OVC with 3.4 three-pointers made per game.
Making up the All-Newcomer team with O'Bannon, Smith, Maggard and McQueen is UT Martin freshman guard Myah Taylor (Dyersburg, Tenn.).
Taylor is 14th in the league with a 43.5 field goal percentage. She has also recorded 9.3 points per game this season.
2015-16 All-Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Teams
(voted on by the league's head basketball coaches and sports information directors)
FIRST TEAM
Shronda Butts, SIUE*
Tiasha Gray, Austin Peay*
Samaria Howard, Tennessee Tech%
Haley Howard, UT Martin
Jalen O'Bannon, Eastern Kentucky
Ke'Shunan James, Murray State
Kylee Smith, Belmont
Jayda Johnson, Tennessee State
Sally McCabe, Belmont
Darby Maggard, Belmont
SECOND TEAM
Jessy Ward, UT Martin
Bri Mitchell, Southeast Missouri
Brianna McQueen, Morehead State
Shameekia Murray, Eastern Kentucky%
I'mani Davis, Tennessee State
ALL-NEWCOMER
Jalen O'Bannon, Eastern Kentucky
Kylee Smith, Belmont
Darby Maggard, Belmont
Brinna McQueen, Morehead State
Myah Taylor, UT Martin
OVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Shronda Butts, SIUE
OVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Darby Maggard, Belmont
CO-OVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sally McCabe, Belmont; CoCo Moore, SIUE
OVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin McMillan, UT Martin
* - 2014-15 First Team All-OVC
% - 2014-15 Second Team All-OVC