Mountain West Announces 2008-09 Women's Basketball All-Conference Team
Utah's Morgan Warburton earns Player of the Year honors
March 9, 2009
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -
Utah's Morgan Warburton was selected as the Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year for 2008-09 as chosen by the head coaches, the MWC announced Monday. Defensive Player of the Year honors went to San Diego State's Jené Morris, while UNLV's Jamie Smith was chosen as the Freshman of the Year. The 6th Player of the Year award was given to Wyoming's Emma Langford, while TCU's TK LaFleur earned Newcomer of the Year honors. San Diego State's Beth Burns, who guided the Aztecs to their first MWC regular-season title, earned her first MWC Coach of the Year honor.
Warburton, a senior guard, helped the Utes to a 13-3 conference record and their seventh MWC regular-season title. She led the league in points (18.1 ppg), and was first in free-throw percentage (.890) and fifth in assists (3.56 apg) during the conference slate.
Five seniors, five juniors and five sophomores make up this year's all-MWC team. Five all-conference picks were repeat selections from 2007-08.
Three different institutions were honored on this year's first team. Joining Warburton on the all-MWC first-team were teammate Kalee Whipple of Utah and Helena Sverrisdottir of TCU. Whipple made her third consecutive all-conference appearance, being named to the third team her freshman year and second team last season. San Diego State had two first-team honorees in Paris Johnson and Jené Morris. Warburton was named a first-team all-conference member for the third consecutive year, while the others are first-time selections to the first team.
New Mexico's Amy Beggin is the only returning all-conference performer from 2007-08 on the second team. This year, six players were named to the second team, due to a tie for the fifth spot. Underclassmen Emily Carter of TCU and Hillary Carlson of Wyoming made the list, while TCU's TK LaFleur earned second-team honors in her first year competing in the MWC. San Diego State's Quenese Davis earned her second all-conference honors, after being named to the third team her freshman year, while Utah's Katie King was also honored.
UNLV's Shamela Hampton earned her third straight third-team honor. BYU's Mindy Nielson, New Mexico's Angela Hartill and Wyoming's Megan McGuffey each made their first appearance on the all-conference list.
First Team All-Mountain West Conference
Student-Athlete
School
Class
Height
Position
#**Morgan Warburton
Utah
Sr.
5-11
G
#**Kalee Whipple
Utah
Jr.
6-0
F
#Helena Sverrisdottir
TCU
So.
6-2
G
Paris Johnson
San Diego State
So.
6-4
C
*Jené Morris
San Diego State
Jr.
5-9
G
Second Team All-Mountain West Conference
*Amy Beggin
New Mexico
Jr.
5-6
G
*Quenese Davis
San Diego State
Jr.
5-9
G
TK LaFleur
TCU
Jr.
5-8
G
Hillary Carlson
Wyoming
So.
6-3
F
Emily Carter
TCU
So.
6-1
G
Katie King
Utah
Sr.
6-1
F
Third Team All-Mountain West Conference
**Shamela Hampton
UNLV
Sr.
6-3
C
Angela Hartill
New Mexico
Sr.
6-3
C
Mindy Nielson
BYU
So.
5-10
G
Megan McGuffey
Wyoming
Sr.
5-11
F
Honorable Mention All-Mountain West Conference
Jamie Smith
UNLV
Fr.
6-0
G/F
Raimee Beck
Air Force
Jr.
5-8
G
Cassie King
BYU
Sr.
6-3
C
Shawnee Slade
BYU
Sr.
5-11
G/F
Kristen Scheffler
Wyoming
Fr.
5-11
G
All-Defensive Team
Jené Morris
San Diego State
Jr.
5-9
G
Paris Johnson
San Diego State
So.
6-4
C
Mindy Nielson
BYU
So.
5-10
G
Quenese Davis
San Diego State
Jr.
5-9
G
Amy Beggin
New Mexico
Jr.
5-6
G
Player of the Year
Morgan Warburton, Utah
Newcomer of the Year:
TK LaFleur, TCU
Freshman of the Year:
Jamie Smith, UNLV
Defensive Player of the Year:
Jené Morris, San Diego State
6th Player of the Year:
Emma Langford, Wyoming
Coach of the Year:
Beth Burns, San Diego State
* notes repeat all-conference selection
** notes three-time all-conference selection
# notes unanimous first-team selection
Morgan Warburton (Utah) - Player of the Year, First Team All-MWC
Utah's Morgan Warburton earns her third consecutive first-team selection. Helping Utah to a 20-9 overall and 13-3 conference record, Warburton ranked first in the league in scoring (18.1 ppg), first in free-throw percentage (.890) and fifth in assists (3.56 spg) over the conference campaign. The senior has scored double-figures in a league-leading 63 straight contests dating back to last season.
Kalee Whipple (Utah) - First Team All-MWC
Utah's Kalee Whipple earns her third consecutive all-conference honor after being named to the third team her freshman year and second team last season. Leading Utah to a share of this year's MWC regular season title, Whipple ranked second in the league in scoring (16.7 ppg), first in 3-pointers made (2.44) and fifth in steals (2.0 spg). The junior scored in double figures in 14 of the 16 league contests and scored at least 20 points in eight games.
Helena Sverrisdottir (TCU) - First Team All-MWC
TCU's Helena Sverrisdottir helped the Horned Frogs to a third-place finish in the MWC standings. She is the only player to rank in the top 10 in the MWC for scoring, rebounding, assists and steals during the conference season. She finished third in scoring (15.4 ppg), seventh in rebounding (7.5 rpg), second in assists (4.38 apg) and ninth in steals (1.75 spg).
Paris Johnson (San Diego State) - First Team All-MWC
San Diego State's Paris Johnson led her team to their first MWC regular season title with a 13-3 league record. The sophomore led the MWC with 52 blocks, more than twice as many as the second-place finisher. Johnson recorded at least six blocks in four games, including an MWC-record nine blocks in the final regular season game vs. UNLV. She finished the conference season ranking second in rebounds (8.5 rpg) and 10th in scoring (12.9 ppg). Johnson scored in double figures in 12 of the 16 contests, while recording four double-doubles.
Jené Morris (San Diego State) - Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-MWC
San Diego State's Jené Morris helped the Aztecs to a 22-6 overall and 13-3 conference record. This marks Morris' second all-conference selection as she was named to the second-team last season. In leading her team to the regular-season title, Morris ranked fifth in scoring (14.4 ppg) and first in steals (2.94 spg). The junior scored in double figures in 13 of the 16 contests and currently holds a seven game streak. Morris recorded at least four steals in five contests, including a league-high seven takeaways vs. TCU.
