Kin student named OUA women’s basketball Player of the Year

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Saving the most prolific season of her decorated career for last, Danielle Boiago was rewarded for her starring role as the OUA dished out its major awards and all-stars for women’s basketball Tuesday.

The Marauder point guard became just the fourth player in history to record the double, being honoured as both the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the OUA. She will move forward as the conference’s nominee for both awards at the national stage.

Boiago led the conference with an average of 25.5 points per 40 minutes in 2016-17, and finished third in both assists (81) and three-pointers made (51). Her shooting percentages of 44 per cent from the floor and 39 per cent from three-point range were both career highs.

Completing her career with 1,719 regular-season points, Boiago finished as the leading scorer in McMaster program history, and third among all-time OUA scorers. She also topped Mac’s all-time record books with 250 steals and finished second in assists (297) and third in rebounds (603).

The point guard became McMaster’s first winner of the Player of the Year award since Lindsay DeGroot took it home in consecutive seasons in 2007 and 2008, and Mac’s first winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award since Rachel Hart won both the OUA and CIS honour in 2008.

Joining Boiago among those honoured Tuesday were teammates Vanessa Pickard, Linnaea Harper and Olivia Wilson.

The Tracey McLeod Award is bestowed in recognition of determination, perseverance and unwavering spirit, and no player in the OUA embodied those virtues more fully in 2016-17 than Vanessa Pickard.

A preseason knee injury, which required season-ending surgery, kept Pickard out of the Marauders lineup for all of 2015-16, after transferring from St. Francis Xavier to pursue a Master’s degree.

Despite rehabbing that injury successfully, the guard suffered a pair of unrelated setbacks earlier this season that kept her away from competition until the Christmas break, when Pickard reappeared at the Thunder Selects tournament in Halifax.

Since returning, the guard has appeared in 12 games for the Marauders and averaged 11.2 points per game and 23.8 points per 40 minutes, the fourth-highest mark in the conference.

Harper accompanied Boiago as an OUA First-Team All-Star, as the third-year forward gained her first conference recognition since being named to the All-Rookie Team in 2015.

Finishing second in team scoring behind Boiago, Harper established new career highs in points per game (12.6), shooting percentage (46.7 per cent), total points (227), rebounds (113), steals (23) and assists (34) while starting 17 of McMaster’s 19 games.

Demonstrating that the future is bright for McMaster’s forwards, Wilson stepped into the OUA confidently in 2016-17 and was named to the conference’s All-Rookie Team as a result. The first-year averaged nearly 15 minutes a night across 19 appearances, and averaged 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

OUA Major Award Winners

Player of the Year: Danielle Boiago – McMaster Marauders
Defensive Player of the Year: Danielle Boiago – McMaster Marauders
Rookie of the Year: Kayah Clarke – Windsor Lancers
Joy Bellinger Award: Nicole DiDomenico – Ryerson Rams
Tracy McLeod Award: Vanessa Pickard – McMaster Marauders
Coach of the Year: Dave Wilson – Queen’s Gaels

OUA First-Team All-Stars

Danielle Boiago – McMaster Marauders
Linnaea Harper – McMaster Marauders
Sofia Paska – Ryerson Rams
Kellie Ring – Ryerson Rams
Robyn Pearson – Queen’s Gaels
Emily Hazlett – Queen’s Gaels
Heather Lindsay – Carleton Ravens
Catherine Traer – Carleton Ravens
Emily Prevost – Windsor Lancers
Kira Cornelissen – Windsor Lancers

OUA Second-Team All-Stars

Kaitlyn Schenck – Laurier Golden Hawks
Nicole Morrison – Laurier Golden Hawks
Mackenzie Puklicz – Western Mustangs
Julia Curran – Western Mustangs
Sarah Besselink – uOttawa Gee-Gees
Cheyanne Roger – Windsor Lancers
Bridget Atkinson – Brock Badgers
Elizabeth Leblanc – Carleton Ravens
Andrea Priamo – Queen’s Gaels
Bridget O’Reilly – Lakehead Thunderwolves

OUA All-Rookie Team

Bronwyn Williams – Ryerson Rams
Emma Fraser – Ryerson Rams
Kayah Clark – Windsor Lancers
Kayla Deschatelets – Laurentian Voyageurs
Bridget Mulholland – Queen’s Gaels
Amalie Hachey – uOttawa Gee-Gees
Rachel Woodburn – Laurier Golden Hawks
Olivia Wilson – McMaster Marauders
Megan MacLeod – York Lions
Nikki Ylagan – Lakehead Thunderwolves

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