April 22, 2008
WACO, Texas - A crowd of over 700 was on hand at the annual Lady Bear Appreciation Banquet, sponsored by the Tip Off Club, at the Ferrell Center on Monday night. Fans participated in Baylor's celebration as they shared dinner, enjoyed the awards ceremony and watched a video of the season at the conclusion of the banquet.
Kim Mulkey, her staff and the squad put the finishing touches on another highly successful season, a year in which the team was selected to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history, finished the year ranked No. 15 in the AP Poll, earned second place in the Big 12 Conference and posted a 25-7 record.
At the end-of-season banquet, senior Angela Tisdale (Austin, Texas) was named the team's most valuable player and shared the team's Defensive Award with junior Rachel Allison (Jonesboro, Ark.). Allison also garnered the squad's rebounding award. Junior Jhasmin Player (Bay City, Texas), whose season was cut short by a knee injury, was the recipient of the Coaches Award, while freshman Melissa Jones (Thornton, Colo.) earned the Most Improved Award and Haylee Abbe (Waco, Texas), a sophomore, was presented the Academic Award.
Tisdale, the team's lone senior, averaged a team-leading 16.4 points a game in her final season at Baylor. She also led the team in free throw percentage (.811) and assists (107). Tisdale's free throw percentage led the Big 12 Conference and she was the league's fifth-ranked scorer. Tisdale finished her Baylor career as the program's assist leader with 493 and ranks No. 13 on the all-time scoring list with 1,373. In addition, she was selected as the 33rd overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft when the Chicago Sky drafted the 5-7 standout, becoming the program's sixth WNBA draftee. According to Mulkey, "Tisdale is the hardest-working player I've ever coached. She was constantly in the gym, and she was constantly in the weight room. If these other players picked up anything this year, they had to learn the kind of work ethic it takes to become that kind of player."
Tisdale's other awards this season include: State Farm/WBCA All-America honorable mention, Wooden Award finalist, State Farm/WBCA All-Region, All-Big 12 (first team), Big 12 Player of the Week (Jan. 21), All-Big 12 honorable mention - preseason and Basketball Travelers Tip-Off All-Tournament team.
Allison, a 6-1 post, led the team in rebounding at 8.5 contest and also was the team's leader in steals with 51. In addition, she was the team's second-leading scorer at 13.1 a game. Allison's season honors include All-Big 12 (first team) as well as Big 12 All-Defensive Team, Academic All-Big 12 (first team), Naismith Trophy Midseason list and Big 12 Player of the Week (Jan. 7).
Player, a 5-10 guard, posted impressive numbers prior to her season-ending knee injury. She averaged 12.2 points and 6.0 rebounds an outing and had dished out 73 assists and registered 37 steals. Her other season honors included All-Big 12 (honorable mention) and Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Tournament MVP.
Jones definitely made her presence felt as a rookie guard. She averaged 5.4 points and 5.6 rebounds while playing in all 32 contests. Her 77.8 percentage from the free throw line ranked second on the squad and she added 35 steals and 45 assists.
Abbe registered a 4.0 grade point average for the fall semester to take home the Academic Award.
