April 23, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. - Seniors Catherine Graham, Megan McCracken and Sara Stevenson and junior Lashawn Johnson received individual recognition at the 2007 Illinois State women's basketball awards banquet at Redbird Arena Monday night.
More than 175 friends, family and fans were on hand to celebrate ISU's record-setting 2006-07 season. The Redbirds advanced to the postseason for the second time in the past three years, and defeated visiting Rice in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) to clinch their first postseason victory in 17 years. Illinois State's 22 wins marked the highest single-season victory output since the 1988-89 campaign.
McCracken, who tallied a team-best .848 free throw percentage and missed just five charity stripe attempts on the season (28-of-33) - was awarded the annual Free Throw award. She was one of ISU's seven players with 200 or more points (307) during the season.
Johnson collected the Redbirds' Rebounding award. In Missouri Valley Conference play, she ranked second in the league with 8.2 caroms per game. Johnson tallied seven double-digit rebounding efforts, including a career-high 14 rebounds in ISU's WNIT first-round, triple-overtime win over Rice at Redbird Arena (March 15, 2007). Johnson's most dominant effort came in an 89-81 win at Indiana State (Jan. 19), when she recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 12 caroms.
Graham and Stevenson shared the annual Jill Hutchison Coaches' Award. The Hutchison award recognizes a student-athlete who most personifies the qualities coaches appreciate the most. Graham, who played in 16 individual contests, was particularly instrumental down the stretch of the season, where she appeared in ISU's final five games, including both WNIT contests.
Stevenson appeared in 25 games, and recorded three starts. She scored a career-high 11 points in the season opener at Northern Illinois (Nov. 11, 2006), and chipped in 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the Redbirds' win over Chicago State (Nov. 26, 2006) at Redbird Arena. She came off the bench to contribute an important 19 minutes of action in the victory over Rice. With 2:05 left in the third overtime period against the Owls, Stevenson's three-pointer gave ISU a decisive 69-61 lead.
Illinois State is slated to return 11 letterwinners, including four starters, for the 2007-08 season.
NOTABLES:
• Head coach Robin Pingeton announced Illinois State's four captains for the 2007-08 season: Kristi Cirone, Tiffany Hudson, Lashawn Johnson and Ashley Sandstead.
• 2006-07 seniors Cat Graham, Megan McCracken, Sara Stevenson and Lori Trumblee each addressed the crowd, a new addition to the annual banquet program.
• Pingeton recognized each of ISU's 2006-07 Missouri Valley Conference Players and Newcomers of the Week.
