Idaho’s Stacey Barr named WAC player of year
Idaho coach Jon Newlee is coach of the year
Idaho guard Stacey Barr is the Western Athletic Conference player of the year and Idaho coach Jon Newlee is the coach of the year.
The league coaches vote on the awards, which were announced Monday.
Barr, a 5-foot-8 guard from Melbourne, Austrailia ,was fourth in the league in scoring at 19.7 a game, sixth in rebounding (8.6) and 10th in assists (2.94 pg). She posted double-doubles in half of her WAC games and had nine games in WAC play with 20 or more points. Barr was a three-time WAC player of the week this season.
Newlee, in his sixth season at Idaho, led the Vandals to their first WAC regular-season title with a 15-1 league record and a 22-8 overall mark. Idaho posted an 18.8 scoring margin in WAC games and ranks in the Top 25 nationally in seven statistical categories. Newlee was also the coach of the year in the 2008-09 season.
Idaho sophomore Ali Forde picked up all-defensive team honors. She led led the conference in blocks (2.3 pg) and was seventh in rebounding (7.9 pg).
Senior Alyssa Charlston made the all-conference second team. She is a three-time all-conference pick, earning first-team honors her sophomore and junior seasons.
Five different schools are represented on the first team. Joining Barr are Bakersfield’s Tyonna Outland, Grand Canyon’s Kaitlyn Petersen, Seattle U’s Kacie Sowell and New Mexico State’s Danesia Williams.
The WAC tournament begins Wednesday at the Orleans in Las Vegas with the top-seeded Vandals taking on 8th-seeded Chicago State at noon.