R-MC's Ariail, RC's Dunagan Headline Women's Basketball Awards
W&L's Ingram Top Rookie, R-MC's Hiltunen Repeats as Scholar-Athlete
February 25, 2009
SALEM, Va. --- Randolph-Macon College senior Molly Ariail earned her third major women's basketball award in as many seasons as the Yellow Jackets' center repeated as the ODAC Player of the Year in the league's annual all-conference voting. Roanoke College mentor, Susan Dunagan, was tabbed as the ODAC Coach of the Year for the seventh time. Washington and Lee University guard, Meghan Ingram, was selected as the ODAC Freshman of the Year, and Amanda Hiltunen joins her R-MC teammate as a repeat honoree as she earned the ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete award for the second straight season.
Ariail, winner of the 2007 ODAC Freshman of the Year and 2008 ODAC Player of the Year awards, was selected to the All-ODAC First Team along with teammates Hiltunen and Lindsay Riesbeck. Arial currently leads the league in scoring at 17.8 points per game and is second on the glass with 8.9 rebounds per contest. She shoots at better than 50-percent from the field, and is third in blocked shots at 1.5 per game. She eclipsed the 20-point barrier in 13 games this season, collecting 11 double-doubles along the way. In her three seasons in Ashland, Arial has scored 1,294 points to go with 683 rebounds and 120 blocked shots in 80 games played.
Dunagan led her squad back to the top of the conference and its first ODAC Tournament #1 seed in 12 seasons during the 2008-09 regular season. The Maroons' 22 overall victories and 17 ODAC wins are the program's most since the 1996-97 campaign. Including this season, Dunagan-coached teams have won 20 or more games 15 times. She has won 537 career games in 28 seasons (including this year), and leads the Maroons in search of a conference-best 14th ODAC title.
Ingram made headlines in her first season patrolling the perimeter in Lexington as she shot her way into the top-10 in scoring all season long. She currently leads Washington and Lee and sits second in the ODAC at 15.5 points per game. Ingram notched a season- and career-high 31 points earlier this season, tying Virginia Wesleyan College's Jill Weston for the ODAC's highest single-game output in 2009. Ingram has hit six three-pointers in a game twice this season, and she has scored in double-figures in 19 of 25 games played, surpassing 20 points six different times.
This is the second straight year that Hiltunen has won the women's basketball ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete Award, and she adds this honor to an All-ODAC First Team selection this season. In the classroom, Hiltunen boasts a 3.82 grade point average while majoring in political science with a minor in journalism. She has been a member of the Randolph-Macon Dean's List each semester in Ashland, as well as a member of the ODAC's Academic Honor Roll. This year, Hiltunen has already been named a 2009 ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA First Team District 3 Academic All-American. On the court, Hiltunen has scored 1,262 points, handed out 392 assists and registered 229 steals in her career. Her combination of academic prowess and on-court skill has led to her recently being named a finalist for the 2009 Jostens Award, which honors the top women's basketball student-athlete in NCAA Division III.
Listed below are the 2009 Women's Basketball All-ODAC Teams. For more information on women's basketball and the upcoming ODAC Basketball Tournaments, visit the ODAC on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.
2009 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-ODAC TEAMS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Molly Ariail, Jr. Center, Randolph-Macon
COACH OF THE YEAR: Susan Dunagan, Roanoke
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Meghan Ingram, Fr., Guard, Washington and Lee
ODAC/FARM BUREAU SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Amanda Hiltunen, Sr., Guard, Randolph-Macon
ALL-ODAC FIRST TEAM
Molly Ariail, Jr., Center, Randolph-Macon
Tracey Croner, Sr., Forward, Guilford
Amanda Hiltunen,, Sr., Guard, Randolph-Macon
Tonia Jones, Jr., Guard, Virginia Wesleyan
Caitlyn Long, Jr., Guard, Roanoke
Lindsay Riesbeck, Sr., Forward, Randolph-Macon
ALL-ODAC SECOND TEAM
Jordan Burkholder, So., Guard, Bridgewater
Meghan Ingram, Fr., Guard, Washington and Lee
Kylie Lucas, So., Center, Lynchburg
Jaleesa Osborne, Jr., Guard, Roanoke
Danielle Scott, So., Guard, Eastern Mennonite
Brittany Snyder, So., Forward, Eastern Mennonite
ALL-ODAC HONORABLE MENTION
Rebecca Bolton, Fr., Guard/Forward, Washington and Lee
Jordan Gholson, So., Center, Roanoke
Alex Lyons, Jr., Forward, Emory & Henry
Tamara Phillips, So., Guard, Hollins
Katie Rechnitzer, Jr., Guard, Randolph
Jennifer Saunders, Sr., Forward, Bridgewater
J.J. Nekoloff
ODAC
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