April 17, 2007
WACO, Texas - A crowd of over 750 was on hand at the annual Lady Bear Appreciation Banquet, sponsored by the Tip Off Club, at the Ferrell Center on Tuesday night. Fans participated in Baylor's celebration as they shared dinner, watched the awards ceremony and enjoyed a video of the season at the conclusion of the banquet.
Kim Mulkey, her staff and the young squad put the finishing touches on another highly successful season, a year in which the team was selected to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history, finished the year ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll and posted a 26-8 record.
At end-of-season banquet, senior Bernice Mosby (Brooksville, Fla.) garnered the team's most valuable player and rebounding awards. Fellow senior Latoya Wyatt (Fort Worth, Texas) shared the squad's Academic Award with freshman walk-on Haylee Abbe (Robinson, Texas). Junior Angela Tisdale (Austin, Texas) received the Lady Bear Award while sophomore Rachel Allison (Jonesboro, Ark.) earned the Coaches Award. Jhasmin Player (Bay City, Texas), a sophomore, was the team's best defender while another sophomore, Jessica Morrow (Humble, Texas), was named the team's most improved player.
Head coach Kim Mulkey presented the most valuable player award to Mosby. The 6-1 senior forward, in her only season for Baylor, led the team in both scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (9.1 rpg) and ranked second on the squad in blocked shots (51). The talented senior was also the recipient of the squad's rebound award as announced by first-year assistant coach Damion McKinney. Mosby's additional honors this season include Kodak/WBCA and AP All-America honorable mention, Wooden Award and Wade Trophy finalist, Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, All-Big 12 first team, Preseason WNIT All-Tournament team, Big 12 Player and Rookie of the Week and Junkanoo Jam All-Tournament team.
Assistant coach Jennifer Roberts awarded the team's most improved player to Morrow and the academic awards to Wyatt and Abbe. Morrow, through hard work and dedication, greatly improved from her rookie season. She ended up ranking No. 3 on the team in scoring, blocks, 3-point percentage (.356) and treys made (32). Over the last three games of the season, she averaged 17.0 points per game and was named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team. Wyatt and Abbe shared Academic Award honors, both were named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall semester. In addition, Wyatt was also selected to the Big 12 Good Works team.
Player received the team's defense award from associate head coach Karen Aston. Her tenacity on defense this season was also noted and rewarded by the league's coaches, as she was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive team. Player led the team in steals (65), was No. 2 in assists (93) and proved to be one of the squad's best defensive rebounders.
Director of basketball operations Johnny Derrick announced that Allison was the recipient of the Coaches Award and Tisdale received the Lady Bear Award. The Coaches Award was presented this season to the player who competed the hardest of any player ever to play under Coach Mulkey and Allison certainly fits the bill. The sophomore post averaged 6.1 rebounds a game and registered 61 steals, both of which ranked second on the squad. In addition, she averaged 7.2 points an outing and blocked 23 shots.
Tisdale, in her second season as the starting point guard, exemplifies the player who continues to grow both on and off the court. As a very quite and shy person, Tisdale had to push herself to expand her role and become a vocal leader and she stepped up to the task. Tisdale ranked second on the team in points per game (10.8) and was among the Big 12 and NCAA's leaders in free throw percentage (.828).
2006-07 Baylor Women's Basketball Team Awards
Most Valuable
Bernice Mosby
Best Defender
Jhasmin Player
Best Rebounder
Bernice Mosby
Most Improved
Jessica Morrow
Coaches Award
Rachel Allison
Lady Bear Award Angela Tisdale
Academic Award Latoya Wyatt and Haylee Abbe
