March 9, 2015
Official Horizon League Press Release
INDIANAPOLIS - Two UIC women's basketball players have been awarded for their stellar seasons. The Horizon League announced its All-League awards Monday (March 9) and Ruvanna Campbell and Terri Bender earned recognition for the second straight season. The awards were voted on by the League's head coaches, sports information directors and media.
Campbell took home her second straight Defensive Player of the Year award. Additionally, Campbell was named to the All-League First Team and the All-Defensive Team. Bender was voted to the All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive season.
Campbell earned the first Defensive Player of the Year award in program history last season. The last UIC player to earn consecutive First-Team All-League accolades was Joanne McCarthy in 1996 and 1997. Campbell and Bender become the first UIC players to be named to consecutive All-Defensive Teams since Jackie Gray accomplished the feat in 1998 and 1999.
Campbell ranks third nationally with 14.3 rebounds per contest and fifth with 22 double-doubles. Her 14.3 rebounds per game break the Horizon League record of 13.7 held by Evansville's Christy Greis in 1991-92. Campbell is the only player in the nation averaging at least 17 points, 14 rebounds and two steals.
Campbell ranks third in the Horizon League in steals (2.4 spg) and fourth in both blocks (1.5 bpg) and scoring (17.4 ppg). She is grabbing 9.8 defensive rebounds in 35.9 minutes per game. During Horizon League play, she averaged 15.4 rebounds and 18.3 points per contest.
Bender owns 69 steals and ranks 26th nationally with 2.8 steals per game. She ranks second in the conference in steals behind Wright State's Tay'ler Mingo, who was named the Horizon League Player of the Year. Bender is grabbing nearly twice as many rebounds per contest during Horizon League play (5.6 - 3.0 rpg).
The Horizon League Women's Basketball Tournament kicks-off tonight with No. 8 Milwaukee hosting No. 9 Valparaiso for a 7 p.m. CT tip-off to be streamed on ESPN3. No. 6 UIC (16-13, 6-10 HL) plays at No. 3 Cleveland State (18-11, 10-6 HL) in Wednesday's (March 11) Quarterfinal round. Tip-off with the Vikings is at 6 p.m. CT inside the Wolstein Center.
The semifinals and finals will take place at the site of the highest remaining seed. Semifinals action starts Friday (March 13) with games beginning at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. local time on ESPN3. The Championship is set for Sunday (March 15) at 2 p.m. CT to be aired on ESPNU.
2015 Horizon League Women's Basketball Postseason Award Winners:
Player of the Year:
Tay'ler Mingo, Wright State (Sr., G)
Coach of the Year:
Mike Bradbury, Wright State
Freshman of the Year:
Dani Franklin, Valparaiso (F)
Defensive Player of the Year:
Ruvanna Campbell, UIC (Jr., F)
Sixth Person of the Year:
Dani Franklin, Valparaiso (Fr., F)
First-Team All-League
Tay'ler Mingo, Wright State (Sr., G)
Ruvanna Campbell, UIC (Jr., F)
Heidi Schlegel, Youngstown State (Sr., F)
Ashley Green, Milwaukee (Sr., F/G)
Cori Coleman, Cleveland State (Sr., G)
Second-Team All-League
Imani Gordon, Cleveland State (Sr., F)
Megan Lukan, Green Bay (Sr., G)
Mehryn Kraker, Green Bay (So., G)
Tesha Buck, Green Bay (So., G)
Rosanna Reynolds, Detroit (So., G)
All-Freshman Team
Dani Franklin, Valparaiso (F)
Jenny Lindner, Milwaukee (G)
Darianne Seward, Detroit (G)
Jasmyn Walker, Valparaiso (F)
Indiya Benjamin, Youngstown State (G)
All-Defensive Team
Ruvanna Campbell, UIC (Jr., F)
Tay'ler Mingo, Wright State (Sr., G)
Megan Lukan, Green Bay (Sr., G)
Terri Bender, UIC (Jr., G)
Sinclair Russell, Oakland (So. F)
