UD wins Player, Coach of the Year honors

Tiara Malcom

9:44 a.m., March 9, 2005--As it prepares to begin Colonial Athletic Association tournament play, the University of Delaware women’s basketball team has earned two of the conference’s highest honors, with Fightin’ Blue Hens senior Tiara Malcom named the Player of the Year and Head Coach Tina Martin named the Co-Coach of the Year.

Malcom and Martin, who shared the Coach of the Year award with Drexel University’s Denise Dillon, were honored during the annual CAA women’s basketball banquet, held Tuesday night in Fairfax, Va., where the tournament will be played at the 10,000-seat Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University.

In addition to being named Player of the Year, Malcom was a first team All-CAA selection.

Also honored during the event were UD senior Tiffany Young, who was named third team All-CAA, and sophomore Tyresa Smith, who was selected to the conference All-Defensive team. Senior Julie Sailer and sophomore Alena Koshansky were named to the All-Academic team.

Malcom, who was the preseason CAA Player of the Year selection, has played a key role in the ascendance of UD women’s basketball in the conference. The 2004-05 Hens have been a premier team throughout the campaign, finishing the regular season with a record of 23-4 overall and 16-2 atop the CAA.

The Hens built a 17-game winning streak, which included a 73-70 victory over Old Dominion University in Norfolk that ended the Monarch’s 122-game home winning streak against CAA opponents. UD capped the streak with a 62-58 victory over Old Dominion before a school-record women’s basketball crowd of 4,772.

Malcom leads the CAA in scoring with 16.6 points per game and also is averaging 6.6 rebounds per game. The 6-foot 1-inch forward also has blocked 25 shots and has 31 steals, and is shooting 80.9 percent from the free throw line.

Malcom, a co-captain alongside fellow seniors Young and Sailer, earned second team All-CAA honors in each of the last two seasons. She has been named CAA Player of the Week on six separate occasions this season.

“It feels really good to be named Player of the Year. Without my teammates, it would not have been possible,” Malcom said.

Head Coach Tina Martin and Tiara Malcom

Asked if being selected the top candidate for Player of the Year honors in the preseason added any extra pressure this year, Malcom said, “You can’t think about things like that. You can just go out and play every game like it is your last game.”

“Tiara has been a terrific player, and a great role model for our team,” Martin said. “It is quite an honor, and she is very deserving of it.”

Malcom is just the third player in UD history to earn conference player of the year honors, joining Jen Riley, who was named East Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1991 and America East Conference Player of the Year in 1992, and Sarah Gause, who was named ECC Player of the Year in 1985.

Building UD into a power

As head coach, Martin has built a power at UD, first charging to the front of the pack in the America East and now either sharing or winning outright the CAA championship in two of the last three seasons. The Hens have won 20 or more games in five of the last six seasons.

Martin earlier was named the America East Coach of the Year in 2000-01, when UD went 26-5, won the America East title and earned a berth in the NCAA championship tournament.

“This is not an individual award,” Martin said, “It is an award shared with our team, our coaches and the University of Delaware family. Everyone is doing a terrific job, and I share this with all of them.”

She recognized her individual players and also the work of veteran associate head coach Jeanine Radice. “The bottom line is, I get my satisfaction from seeing the players grow, as people first and also as players,” Martin said.

Tina Martin

Martin said this season has been special. “It has been a very great year,” she said. “I am proud that the team won the regular season championship. The kids have done a great job and have played very well as a team. Now, we have to go out and play well in the tournament and see if we can come home with the CAA championship.”

UD will open tournament action at noon, Thursday, against the winner of today’s game between Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Malcom said the success of this UD team has not been a surprise. “Coming into the year, I knew we had a pretty good team, if everyone played to the level of which they were capable,” she said, adding, “Everyone has.”

Young, the first player off the bench for the Hens, earned third team All-CAA honors. She is scoring 11 points per game and pulling down six rebounds per game.

Smith is averaging 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and leads the Hens in assists with 87. She is second in the conference with 89 steals.

A four-year starter, Sailer is averaging 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game this season. A two-time College Sports Information Directors of America District 2 All-Academic selection, she is an honor student with a major in elementary education major and a minor in business.

Koshansky, who took over the full-time starting spot at point guard this season, is averaging 6.7 points per game and led the team with 33 three-point field goals. She is an honor student.

Article by Neil Thomas
Photos by Jon Cox

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