Morehead State's Chynna Bozeman was selected as the 2009-10 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Eastern Illinois' Ta'Kenya Nixon was named both the Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year while UT Martin's Kevin McMillan was tabbed the Coach of the Year.
Bozeman, a native of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, was named the OVC Player of the Year to become the fourth Morehead State player to earn the honor. She currently leads the league and ranks in the nation's Top 30 with 19.3 points per game. The All-OVC first team selection, is third in the NCAA recording 3.6 three-pointers per game. The junior guard broke the OVC and school career three-pointers made record while also setting the school and league single-season mark for treys made. She currently has 113 triples this season and 265 in her career. Bozeman has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season, hitting the 30-point mark three times. She scored a career-best 39 points in the first-round of the tournament against Murray State. Bozeman was named the OVC Preseason Player of the Year after being the league's top returning scorer. She has been selected as the Player of the Week four times this year.
Nixon is the first player to be named both the Freshman of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. She is the third Eastern Illinois player to earn Freshman of the Year honors, all of which have come under head coach Brady Sallee The All-OVC first team pick leads all freshman in scoring with 13.5 points per game while also tallying 2.1 steals per outing to rank first in the league. A guard from Michigan City, Ind., Nixon has broken five school freshman records including free throws made (129), steals (64), free throws attempted (169), assists (155) and rebounds (211). She has recorded four double-doubles so far this season. Nixon, who was also selected to the All-Newcomer team, ranks among league leaders with 5.0 assists and 6.8 rebounds per game. She became the first freshman in OVC history to earn Player of the Week honors three times in one season. Nixon also earned Freshman of the Week honors five times, two of which came in the same week as the Player of the Week accolades.
McMillian, who is in his first year at the helm of the Skyhawk program, earns Coach of the Year honors after guiding his team to a fourth-place finish after being predicted to place 10th in the league. The Skyhawks snapped a 29-game OVC losing streak earlier this season and went on to win eight league contests. UT Martin earned the right to host a first-round tournament game for the first time since 2003 and made its first tournament appearance since 2006-07. McMillan is the sixth first-year coach in league history to be named OVC Coach of the Year joining names such as Murray State's Rob Cross, Tennessee Tech's Bill Worrell, Tennessee State's Teresa Phillips, Austin Peay's Andy Blackston and Southeast Missouri's John Ishee. McMillan is the first UT Martin coach to earn the honor since 1997-98 when co-head coaches Gary and Kim Van Atta won the award.
Joining Bozeman and Nixon on the 2009-10 All-OVC first team are Austin Peay junior guard/forward Ashley Herring, Tennessee Tech sophomore guard Tacarra Hayes and Tennessee State senior forward Oby Okafor.
Herring, a native of Memphis, Tenn., earns first team honors after being named to the All-Newcomer team in 2007-08. She leads her team with 14.3 points per game which ranks fourth in the league. Herring also ranks among the league leaders in rebounds with 5.1 per game and a 43.5 field-goal percentage.
Hayes has been selected to the first team for the first time in her career. The Lebanon, Ky., has tallied 17.0 points and 1.8 steals per game to rank second in the league so far this season. She has also dished out 4.4 assists per game and hit 42.5 percent of her field goals to rank among league leaders. Hayes put up 41 points versus Tennessee State which was the most in the OVC this season and also set the school record for the most points by a guard.
Okafor, a native of Rolla, Mo., earns first team honors after being named to the second team in 2007-08. She sat out all of last year due to injury. Okafor is third in the OVC with 14.6 points per game. She has recorded 20-plus points five times this year scoring a season-best 28 versus Austin Peay. Okafor has made 46.4 percent of her field goals while also bringing down 7.6 boards per game to rank among league leaders.
The 2009-10 All-OVC second team features five first-time honorees. Making up the squad are Eastern Illinois senior forward Maggie Kloak (Elmwood Park, Ill.) and senior guard Dominique Sims (Wichita Falls, Texas); Eastern Kentucky freshman forward/center Alex Jones (Elizabethtown, Ky.); Austin Peay senior forward Nicole Jamen ((Yaounde', Cameroon); and Murray State senior guard Kayla Vance (West Paducah, Ky.)
Joining Nixon on the All-Newcomer team are Eastern Kentucky freshman forward/center Alex Jones (Elizabethtown, Ky.); Tennessee Tech freshman guard Kellie Cook (Madison, Ala.); and UT Martin junior forward Alecia Weatherly (Lobelville, Tenn.) and freshman forward LaBrica Ward (Union City, Tenn.)
OVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Chynna Bozeman, Morehead State
OVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Ta'Kenya Nixon, Eastern Illinois
OVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Ta'Kenya Nixon, Eastern Illinois
OVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Kevin McMillan, UT Martin
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
Chynna Bozeman, Morehead State
Ta'Kenya Nixon, Eastern Illinois
Ashley Herring, Austin Peay
Tacarra Hayes, Tennessee Tech
Oby Okafor, Tennessee State
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
Maggie Kloak, Eastern Illinois
Alex Jones, Eastern Kentucky
Nicole Jamen, Austin Peay
Dominique Sims, Eastern Illinois
Kayla Vance, Murray State
OVC ALL-NEWCOMER
Ta'Kenya Nixon, Eastern Illinois
Alex Jones, Eastern Kentucky
Kellie Cook, Tennessee Tech
Alecia Weatherly, UT Martin
LaBrica Ward, UT Martin