Emporia State's Edwards named MIAA player of the year
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Cassondra Boston joins Edwards on MIAA first team
Ida Edwards has been called the most dominant player in the MIAA by several league coaches this year. On Monday, it became clear everyone feels that way.
Edwards was named the MIAA player of the year and was also named to the All-Defensive team. Edwards was a unanimous first-team selection and was joined on the first team by ESU junior guard Cassondra Boston.
ESU junior guard Sophia Lenard joined Edwards on the All-Defensive team. Lenard was also an honorable mention for the All-League team, as was ESU senior guard Andrea Leiker.
Edwards averaged 14.3 points (eighth in the MIAA), 10.2 rebounds (second in the MIAA) and 1.48 blocks (sixth in the MIAA). She also leads the conference and the nation in field goal percentage, making 59.1 percent of her shots this season.
Edwards is one of only two players in the league to average a double-double — along with first-team selection Erica Biel.
The Lady Hornets won the MIAA regular season championship and were the only team to land two players on the first team and two players on the All-Defensive team.
Boston was Emporia State’s leading scorer this year at 14.8 points per game, and she also led the team in assists with 4.19 per game. The junior guard has also been the Lady Hornets go-to player when they needed a basket.
Boston made the game-winning layup in a 78-76 win at Pittsburg State, and she made several timely 3-pointers down the stretch in close games this season.
Lenard, who was the Lady Hornets only newcomer this year, was usually assigned to guard the opposition’s top guard. She led the team with 45 steals and also had 18 blocks.
Leiker was the team’s third-leading scorer this season at 13.6 points per game. She tied Boston for the team lead in most 3-pointers made (53). She went over 1,000 career points this year and is 19th on Emporia State’s all-time scoring list.
Edwards becomes the eighth Lady Hornet to win the league’s MVP award in the past 13 seasons. Michelle Stueve won the award last year.
Washburn’s Jessica Mainz was named the conference’s defensive player of the year for the second straight season. Missouri Western’s Jessica Koch received freshman of the year honors, and Pittsburg State coach Lane Lord won coach of the year for taking the Gorillas to a third-place finish in the league after winning only four conference games last year.
Honorable Mention All-MIAA
Meghan Brue, NWMSU; Brianna Buchanan, PSU; Courtney Creed, SBU; Candice Gilbert, PSU; Stanecia Graham, WU; Alyssa Green, UNO; Andrea Leiker, ESU; Sophia Lenard, ESU; DePrice Taylor, PSU; India Wood, MSSU.