March 5, 2007
Colorado Springs, Colo. - UNLV's Sequoia Holmes was named Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year, and was also named to the All-MWC Second Team, while teammate Shamela Hampton was a third-team selection, it was announced Monday by the conference. Both players were named to the all-conference team for the first time in their careers.
Holmes, a 6-1 junior guard/forward and Las Vegas native, is the third Lady Rebel to be named MWC Defensive Player of the Year. Julia Gray was named in 2002-03, while Sherry McCracklin shared the honor in 2003-04. She finished the regular season second in the league in steals with 2.61 per game, and was also 12th in rebounding at 6.3 per game, and 15th in blocks with 0.57 per contest, and was the only player in the conference to rank in the top 15 in all three categories. Holmes also is fifth in the MWC with 14.5 points per game, and received her first career MWC weekly honor on Monday as well.
Hampton, a 6-3 sophomore center from Colorado Springs, Colo., received her first career all-conference honor by averaging 12.0 points (13th in the conference) and 6.7 rebounds (eighth). She was also third in the league in field goal percentage with 51.9 percent, and was named MWC Player of the Week on Jan. 1 after leading UNLV to big wins over DePaul and Nevada, Reno.
Dani Wright of BYU and Adrianne Ross of TCU shared MWC Player of the Year honors. Named Coach of the Year was BYU's Jeff Judkins, who guided the Cougars to their second-straight regular season title. Newcomer of the Year honors went to Justyna Podziemska of Wyoming.
The All-MWC first team was made up of Wright, Ross, Morgan Warburton of Utah, Katie Montgomery of New Mexico, and Hanna Zavecz of Wyoming. On the second team was Holmes, Podziemska, Mallary Gillespie (BYU), Dionne Marsh (New Mexico), Ashley Davis (TCU), and Julie Briody (New Mexico). The third team consisted of Hampton, Sara Hunter (Colorado State), Kalee Whipple (Utah), Alecia Steele (Air Force), and Quenese Davis (San Diego State).
The Lady Rebels finished the regular season at 14-14, and finished sixth with an 8-8 record in league play. UNLV, the sixth seed in the 2006 MWC Tournament, will open against third-seeded New Mexico in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 2:30 pm in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas in a game televised live by the mtn.
2006-07 Mountain West Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams
First Team
Dani Wright, BYUAdrianne Ross, TCUMorgan Warburton, UtahKatie Montomery, New MexicoHanna Zavecz, Wyoming
Second Team
Sequoia Holmes, UNLVMallary Gillespie, BYUDionne Marsh, New MexicoAshley Davis, TCUJulie Briody, New MexicoJustyna Podziemska, Wyoming
Third Team
Shamela Hampton, UNLVSara Hunter, Colorado StateKalee Whipple, UtahAlecia Steele, Air ForceQuenese Davis, San Diego State
Coach of the YearJeff Judkins, BYU
Co-Players of the YearDani Wright, BYUAdrianne Ross, TCU
Newcomer of the YearJustyna Podziemska, Wyoming
Defensive Player of the YearSequoia Holmes, UNLV
