Women's Hoops Holds 2010 Awards Banquet
May 03, 2010 | Women's Basketball
May 3, 2010
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Junior forward Kim Gay was named team MVP while also receiving the Rebounding and Scholar-Athlete Awards at the 2010 East Carolina women's basketball awards banquet, held Sunday afternoon at the club level of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The award is the first for the Eastman, Ga., native.
Gay led the Lady Pirates in rebounding average with 5.7 per game and was second on the squad in free throw shooting at 79.5 percent. She ranked seventh in Conference USA in field goal percentage and scored 27 points in ECU's two contests in the WNIT. Of her three double-doubles in 2009-10, none was more special than the career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds she produced at Memphis. Gay also nailed four three-point field goals that day, the last with three seconds left in overtime to lift East Carolina to a 77-76 overtime win at the FedExForum. Off the court, she earned 2009-10 C-USA All-Academic Team honors and holds a team-best cumulative GPA of 3.38.
Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman's Administrator Rosie Thompson-Smaw passed out five other individual honors during the presentation. Chareya Smith won the Most Improved Award, as she finished the season making 12 starts and upping her scoring average nearly six times over from her freshman campaign. The Raleigh, N.C., native scored in double figures eight times and picked up her first career double-double against Southern Miss with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Smith was tied for third on the team in rebounding average at 3.9 per contest. She also matched her career high with 14 points in the overtime win at Drexel in the first round of the WNIT.
The Defensive Award was given to Ashley Clarke. The sophomore started all 34 games and was named to the All-C-USA Second Team as well as the All-Defensive Team. She led the Lady Pirates in field goals made, free throws made, assists, steals, total points and scoring average while also ranking first in C-USA and 24th nationally in assists per game. Clarke was second on the team in rebounding and scored 20 or more points in a game three times.
Junior Allison Spivey garnered the Coaches Award. She was one of two players to start all 34 games and finished second on the team in scoring average at 10 points per game while putting in double figures in points 17 times. Spivey broke the single-season record for three-point field goals made with 63 and has now drained 144 in her career, moving her into fifth on the program's all-time chart. She ended the season ranked first on the team in three-point field goals made and three-point percentage, as well as second in C-USA and 16th nationally in three-point percentage. Spivey led the team in scoring in conference contests and finished third in the league in free throw percentage.
Although she played in just 19 games before an injury to her ACL sidelined her for the rest of the season, sophomore Crystal Wilson picked up the Deflection Award. She was averaging 9.6 points per game while shooting the ball at 55 percent from the field, 43 percent from beyond the arc and 75 percent from the free throw line. Wilson scored in double figures seven times, including a career-high 20 points in the overtime win against Binghamton. In the team's first road win of the season, a 70-65 decision at American, she recorded four steals - including two in the final minute of the contest. Wilson registered 37 steals in her 19 appearances for an average of 1.9 per game. She also dropped in 18 points in the C-USA opener against Marshall at Minges Coliseum.
For her service and dedication to the Lady Pirates, certified athletic trainer Ashley Anderson was presented with the Sixth Man Award.
2009 East Carolina Women's Basketball Awards
Most Valuable Player: Kim Gay
Coaches Award: Allison Spivey
Defensive Award: Ashley Clarke
Rebounding Award: Kim Gay
Scholar Athlete: Kim Gay
Deflection Award: Crystal Wilson
Most Improved Player: Chareya Smith
Sixth Man Award: Ashley Anderson
