Women's Basketball

QUIGLEY TOPS ALL-AMERICAN TEAM AS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

St. Cloud State player joined by Brister, Juster, Redick and Schmidt on first team

by Joey Roberts, Tarleton State Sports Information Director

      STEPHENVILLE, Texas - St. Cloud State's Erica Quigley leads the 2007 Daktronics All-American team as the National Player of the Year according to the team which was released Wednesday.

        Quigley is joined by Emily Brister of West Texas A&M, Leora Juster of Cal State-San Diego, Rachel Redick of Glenville State and Darcie Schmidt of Lewis on the Daktronics All-American First Team.

        The second team is led by Kate Schrader of Florida Gulf Coast, followed by Tanetra Barrett of Wingate, Celeste Trahan of Elizabeth City State, Alexis Castro of American International and Keirah Kimbrough of North Dakota.

        The third team consists of Kanani Marshal of Texas A&M-Commerce, Diana Lopez of Regis, Marquita Driskell of Georgia College & State, Johannah Leedham of Franklin Pierce and Michelle Stueve of Emporia State.

        Quigley received 32 first-place nods to lead the overall voting with 575 total points.  Juster was the second-leading vote-getter with 464 points, and she received eight first-place nominations.  Brister was third in points with 308 while Redick and Schmidt each received 302.  Redick also had eight first-place votes.

        Quigley was the Daktronics North Central Region Player of the Year after averaging 24.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game for the Huskies this season.  She has been named the State Farm/Women's Basketball Coaches Association National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Player of the Year for the 2006-07 season as well.  Quigley was also named the North Central Conference's Most Valuable Player while leading Division II in scoring, and she is sixth in rebounding and blocked shots.  Quigley scored 30-plus points in six games this season and tied a school record of 38 points versus Minnesota-Moorhead.  The senior from Duluth, Minn. recorded 2,570 points, 1,342 rebounds and 300 blocks in her career.  She is a two-time NCC scoring champion and three-time NCC rebounding champion.

        A native of Amarillo, Texas, Brister was named the 2006-07 Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year.  The sophomore was also named the Lone Star Conference South Division Player of the Year for the second straight season.  On her way to being named first team all-conference, Brister averaged 22.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game this season.  She leads the LSC in scoring and is sixth in free throw percentage (.840) and second in steals (97).  Brister was named to the LSC All-Tournament Team and was an Academic All-District VI First Team selection by CoSIDA/ESPN Magazine.  She was also placed on the LSC All-Academic Team and was the LSC South Division Academic Player of the Year as well.  She is currently seventh on the school's all-time scoring list after just two seasons, recording 1,431 points, and she is in first with 22.8 points per game.  Brister has scored 30-plus points four times this season and has recorded three double-doubles.

        Juster led UCSD to its first-ever California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship, averaging 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season.  The Tritons advanced to the Elite Eight after winning the West Regional Championship.  The Los Angeles, Calif. Native ranked fifth in the nation in scoring average and 17^th in field goal percentage while making 54.7 percent of her shots this season.  Juster was also named a WBCA/Kodak First Team All-American.  Last season, she was named Second Team Daktronics All-American.  Additionally, the senior was named the CCAA's Most Valuable Player of the Year for the second straight season, and she garnered the 2006-07 Daktronics West Region Player of the Year award as well.  Juster is the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,011 points while also topping the career assists list (392) and ranking fourth in career steals (213) and 16^th in rebounding (527).

        Redick has led her team to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight after going 18-0 in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and winning the East Regional Championship.  The Franklin, Pa. Native was named the Most Valuable Player of the WVIAC, the conference tournament and the East Regional Tournament.  She is averaging 20.8 points and 4.3 assists per game this season while scoring in double digits in 33 of GSC's 35 contests this season.  Redick has 2,392 career points, the most in WVIAC women's basketball history.  She was named a WBCA/Kodak First Team All-American this season as well.  Redick has 150 assists this season and has led the team in scoring on 24 occasions.

        Schmidt is a Machesney Park, Ill. native that was named the Daktronics Great Lakes Region Player of the Year.  She was also selected as a WBCA/Kodak First Team All-American and is among the nation's leaders in scoring average (21.7).  The Flyers' senior scored 30-plus points seven times this season, including three consecutive games when the Flyers beat three nationally-ranked teams in December.  Schmidt recorded six double-doubles this season and was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year as well.  She finished her career with 1,986 points and broke a 26-year-old record in single-season scoring with 604 points. 

        The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition.  The team is voted on by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

First Team

Emily Brister, G, 5-9, soph, West Texas A&M (Amarillo, Texas)
Leora Juster, G, 5-10, sr, UC-San Diego (Los Angeles, Calif.)
*Erica Quigley, P, 6-2, sr, St. Cloud State (Duluth, Minn.)
Rachel Redick, G, 5-8, sr, Glenville State (Franklin, Pa.)
Darcie Schmidt, F, 5-10, sr, Lewis (Machesney Park, Ill.)
*2006-07 Daktronics All-America Most Valuable Player

Second Team

Tantetra Barrett, G, 5-6, sr, Wingate (Marshville, N.C.)
Alexis Castro, F, 6-0, jr, American International (Chula Vista, Calif.)
Keirah Kimbrough, F, 6-1, soph, North Dakota (Greenbush, Minn.)
Kate Schrader, F, 5-11, sr, Florida Gulf Coast (Fort Collins, Colo.)
Celeste Trahan, C, 6-2, jr, Elizabeth City State (Stockton, Calif.)

Third Team

Marquita Driskell, F, 6-2, jr, Georgia College & State (Milledgeville, Ga.)
Johnnah Leedham, F, 5-11, fr, Franklin Pierce (Ellesmere Port, England)
Diana Lopez, G, 5-8, sr, Regis (Denver, Colo.)
Kanani Marshal, G, 5-9, sr, Texas A&M-Commerce (Madison, Wisc.)
Michelle Stueve, F, 6-2, jr, Emporia State (Olpe, Kan.)