Big East Awards
March 05, 2004 09:24 PM | General
March 5, 2004
 Carey |
 M. Bulger |
 K. Bulger |
 Paige |
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(WVU Sports Communications) |
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University’s Meg Bulger became the first women’s basketball player to win a major award in the Big East conference when she was named league freshman of the year, it was announced Friday night.
Bulger captured the award in voting conducted by conference coaches after averaging 10 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in leading West Virginia to a 19-9 regular season record – its best since joining the Big East during the 1995-96 season.
After missing the first six games due to an ankle injury, Bulger claimed conference rookie of the week honors six times this year while playing all five positions. In conference play Bulger averaged nearly 11 points and 5 rebounds per game and scored double figures in nine of her last 11 games, including a season-high 21 against Connecticut.
“It’s definitely something I didn’t expect and it’s a great honor,” said Meg Bulger. “This award has as much to do with my teammates and most importantly, it shows that we’re starting to get some respect from others in the conference.
“As great as this is, I will be a lot happier if we can win some games here this weekend and make the NCAA tournament,” she added.
Bulger also was named to the six-player Big East all-rookie team.
In addition, West Virginia University’s Mike Carey was named Big East coach of the year after leading the Mountaineers to the second-best single-season turnaround in conference history.
“This just says a lot about the players we have in our program,” said Carey. “It’s great anytime you receive an honor like this but a lot of people have had a hand in this. My assistants have done a great job preparing the scouting reports, recruiting the players and helping get the team prepared for each game.”
After going 4-12 last year in Big East play and barely making the conference tournament, Carey directed WVU to a 10-6 regular season finish. The Mountaineers’ 19 regular season wins were the most since the 1997 season and West Virginia’s No. 6 seed in this year’s conference tournament is its highest since the league eliminated divisional play in 1998.
Senior Kate Bulger was picked on the all-Big East second team after averaging 15.2 points per game and making a school-record 84 three-point baskets. She earned second team honors two years ago as a sophomore and was a third-team pick last year as a junior.
“Kate is the player of the year in my book,” said Meg.
Junior Yolanda Paige was also recognized as a member of the all-Big East third team. The point guard averaged 11.7 points per game and handout out a school-record 222 assists. Paige’s 7.9 assists-per-game average is tops in the conference.
Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi was voted Big East player of the year, Georgetown’s Rebekkah Brunson was named conference defensive player of the year, Notre Dame’s Megan Duffy was picked as the league’s most improved player, St. John’s Sherri Brown won the sportsmanship award and Villanova’s Courtney Mix captured the Scholar-Athlete award.
Joining Taurasi on the all-conference first team were Notre Dame’s Jacqueline Batteast, Brunson, BC’s Jessalyn Deveny, Miami’s Tamara James and Rutgers’ Cappie Pondexter.
West Virginia faces St. John’s Saturday night in the final game of the day at 8 pm. The Mountaineers defeated the Red Storm earlier this year by two, 69-67 in Jamaica, N.Y.
“It’s nice that we won all of these awards but we’ve got to get ready to face St. John’s tomorrow night,” said Carey.
Saturday’s contest is set to begin at 8 pm and will be carried in its entirety on the Internet by Yahoo! Sports. MSN affiliates WAJR-AM and WAJR-FM will join the broadcast in progress following the men’s game at Miami.
Fans can also follow Livestats coverage of all of the tournament games by logging onto the Big East Conference we site www.bigeast.org and clicking on the ‘Championships’ link.
