UH women’s hoops forward Martin named All-Big West
Hawaii junior forward Kamilah Martin was named to the All-Big West Women’s Basketball first team, the league announced this morning.
Junior guard Sydney Haydel was tabbed the league’s Best Defensive Player, while junior wing Shawna Kuehu was given the Best Sixth Player award for her play off the bench.
Ashleigh Karaitiana made the All-Freshman team.
First-year coach Laura Beeman, who guided the team to a 13-5 Big West record (tied for second) was thought to be a contender for Coach of the Year, but that honor went to Pacific’s Lynne Roberts.
No other UH players were named to the BWC first or second teams. Kuehu and Karaitiana were honorable mentions.
“I’m excited for our girls,” Beeman said. “If you talk to any of them they would say it’s a team effort; that they were able to get these rewards because of what their teammates did for them. And that’s the greatest thing about our team. It’s never been about ‘me, me, me,’ it’s about ‘we.’ Excited for them. We’re going to acknowledge them, but it’s also going to be about the team and why we came to Southern California (for the Big West tournament).”
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Cal Poly center Molly Schemer was the BWC Player of the Year, making her the fourth straight Mustangs player to receive that award. UC Riverside’s Brittany Crain was the Freshman of the Year.
Martin made the first team in the Western Athletic Conference as a sophomore last season. She’s averaging 15.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game with 14 double-doubles heading into the Big West tournament play this week.
UH opens with a to-be-determined opponent on Wednesday at UC Irvine.