March 8, 2010
LAS VEGAS - UNLV's Erica Helms was named to the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Third Team, while Jamie Smith was honorable mention for the second straight year the league announced on Monday.
Helms, a 5-7 junior guard Antioch, Calif., earned her first league recognition by finishing the regular season with a career-best 13.5 ppg average, which ranks 10th in the MWC. She also stands in the top 12 in two other categories -- 11th in assists with 3.4 per game and 12th in steals with 1.7 per contest. Scoring in double figures in 12 of UNLV's 16 conference games, she posted 19 points in UNLV's upset win at Utah on Jan. 16, and topped that performance with 17 points and seven assists with just one turnover in a six-point win at New Mexico on Feb. 10.
Smith, a 6-0 sophomore forward from Kailua, Hawaii, earned honorable mention All-MWC for the second straight year. She is on pace to win the league's rebounding title for a second straight season, ranking first in the league and 27th in the nation with 10.2 rpg. Smith is averaging 8.6 points per game, is 10th in the MWC in blocks with 0.8 per game, and her nine double-doubles is second-best in the conference.
Helena Sverrisdottir of TCU won the Player of the Year award, while Jene Morris from San Diego State repeated as Defensive Player of the Year. Jessica Bradley of San Diego State was the Newcomer of the Year, Coriann Wood from BYU was named the 6th Player of the Year, and Jeff Mittie received Coach of the Year honors after leading TCU to the regular-season title.
The All-MWC First team was made up of Sverrisdottir and Emily Carter from TCU, Kalee Whipple from Utah, Morris from San Diego State and Amy Beggin from New Mexico. On the second team was Mindy Bonham (BYU), Kim Mestdagh (Colorado State), Paris Johnson (San DIego State), Taryn Wicijowski (Utah) and teammates Hilary Carlson and Aubrey Vandiver from Wyoming. The third team was comprised of Helms, Quenese Davis (San Diego State), Hampton, TK LaFleur (TCU) and Emma Langford (Wyoming).
The Lady Rebels finished the regular season at 13-17 and came in seventh place with a 6-10 record in league play. UNLV, the seventh seed in the 2010 MWC Tournament, opens against sixth-seeded Wyoming in the first round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
