Lisa Stockton Named Louisiana Coach Of The Year
Apr 5, 2010 | Women's Basketball
April 5, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - Tulane University head women's basketball coach Lisa Stockton was named Louisiana Coach of the Year while Chassity Brown, Danielle Nunn and Tiffany Aidoo claimed first-team, third-team and honorable-mention all-state recognition, respectively, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association announced over the weekend.
Stockton, who was named Conference USA Coach of the Year back in March, claimed the second LSWA Coach of the Year honor of her career after garnering the honor during her first year at the helm of the Green Wave program in 1995. Brown, Nunn and Aidoo, meanwhile, earned the first all-state honors of their careers.
The all-state awards come following the 2009-10 season which saw Tulane go 26-7 overall, win the C-USA regular-season title with a 12-4 league record, win the C-USA Tournament Championship with a three-game sweep in Tulsa, Okla., and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003.
Stockton claimed Coach of the Year honors by a one-vote margin over runner-up Teresa Weatherspoon of Louisiana Tech. She earned the honor after helping guide her team through one of its most injury-plagued seasons. Six games into the 2009-10 schedule, Stockton and the Green Wave lost junior forward Brittany Lindsey for the year with a shoulder injury. In addition, sophomore post Brett Benzio missed extensive time with a foot injury.
Despite the sudden loss of her frontcourt, Stockton rebuilt her team midseason into a five-guard lineup that used a tenacious defense which ranked ninth in the NCAA with 11.7 steals per game and used that pressure to create transition offense. Tulane's fast-break offense ranked third in C-USA with a 69.6 scoring average while the Green Wave's "D" held opponents to a league-low 60.3 points per contest and ranked first in the conference with a plus-9.2 point-per-game differential.
Brown earned first-team All-Louisiana honors after leading a balanced Tulane offense with 13.2 points per game while ranking second in steals (85), third in assists (81) and fifth in rebounds (119). A senior from Shreveport, La., Brown also claimed a spot on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's All-Region IV Team, was named second-team All-Conference USA and earned a spot on the C-USA All-Defensive Team.
During the Green Wave's march to the C-USA Tournament title, Brown averaged 10.0 points, 4.0 rebounds. 2.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game while hitting 44.0 percent of her shots from the field (11-of-25) and 75.0 percent of her free throws (6-of-8) to claim a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
For the season, Brown ranked second in C-USA in steals per game (2.74), ninth in 3-pointers per game (1.7) and 10th in points per game. In addition, she ranked 29th in the NCAA in steals per game. Brown scored in double digits on 23 occasions, including a career-high 23 twice. She had five-plus assists four time and had four-plus steals eight times, including a Tulane single-game record nine against SMU on Jan. 17.
Nunn claimed third-team all-state honors and finished second in the LSWA Newcomer of the Year tally after leading Tulane with a 54.9 field goal percentage by connecting on 118-of-215 of her shots from the field during the year. A junior from Arlington, Texas, and transfer from TCU, Nunn also finished second on the team with 11.0 points per game, third with 145 rebounds and fifth with 45 assists.
A third-team All-Conference USA honoree, Nunn came off the Green Wave bench during the first 10 games of the year and made an immediate impression once joining the starting lineup as she claimed MVP honors of the Tulane DoubleTree Classic when she averaged 17.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game. She ranked second in C-USA in field goal percentage, 13th with 1.67 steals per game and 20th in points per game. As a starter, Nunn averaged 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.5 assists per contest.
Nunn finished in double digits 20 times, including a career-best 23-point effort at UTEP on March 3. She had five-plus rebounds on 15 occasions, including a career-high 10 at Rice on Feb. 25. In addition, Nunn was named MVP of the 2010 C-USA Women's Basketball Championship after averaging 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.3 assists per game while hitting 57.9 percent of her shots from the field (11-of-19).
Aidoo, meanwhile, claimed honorable-mention All-Louisiana recognition after leading Tulane and C-USA with a Green Wave-record 43.3 3-point field goal percentage as she hit 58-of-134 shots from beyond the 3-point arc during the 2009-10 season. A junior forward from Slidell, La., Aidoo began the year as a bench player but became a full-time starter on Dec. 5 and averaged 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game when taking the floor to open the game.
For the year, Aidoo finished third on the team in with 10.0 points per game, fourth with 130 rebounds and fifth with 48 steals. She was named to the Tulane DoubleTree Classic and C-USA Women's Basketball Championship all-tournament teams, had 16 multiple-assist games and 14 multiple-steal outings.
The Green Wave are expecting to return nine of 11 letterwinners for the 2010-11 season, including Aidoo, Nunn, rising senior point guard Roshaunda Barnes and 2009-10 freshman sensation Olivia Grayson. Also expected to return next year are Lindsey - who will have two years of eligibility remaining after earning a medical redshirt - Benzio, rising junior Jennifer Nwokedi, rising sophomores Janique Kautsky and Tyria Snow, and redshirt-freshman forward Chantel McDonald.
2009-10 ALL-LOUISIANA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
First Team
Chassity Brown, Tulane
Ricshanda Bickham, Nicholls State
Shanavia Dowdell, Louisiana Tech
Allison Hightower, LSU
Adrienne Johnson, Louisiana Tech
Second Team
LaSondra Barrett, LSU
Tillisha Givens, Louisiana College
Hannah Kador, Southern
Brittany Powell, Xavier
Trenese Smith, Loyola
Third Team
Sharday Cotton, LSU-Shreveport
Brittany Helm, New Orleans
Brittany Houston, Northwestern State
Mercedes Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette
Danielle Nunn, Tulane
Honorable-Mention
Tiffany Aidoo, Tulane
Alisa Allen, Nicholls State
Freda Allen, Southern
Trudy Armstead, Northwestern State
Katherine Graham, LSU
Alexis Green, Louisiana-Lafayette
Kendra Wells, McNeese State
Player of the Year
Allison Hightower, LSU
Newcomer of the Year
Ricshanda Bickham, Nicholls State
Freshman of the Year
Alisha Allen, Nicholls State
Coach of the Year
Lisa Stockton, Tulane
