Ducks Hand Out Postseason Hardware
EUGENE, Ore. ? The University of Oregon women’s basketball team held its annual postseason banquet Friday night at the Valley River Inn, celebrating the careers of five departing seniors and handing out a variety of team awards in front of nearly 200 supporters.
"The seniors did a tremendous job and were extremely gracious for their opportunity to represent the University of Oregon and be apart of the community in Eugene," said head coach Bev Smith. "It was a very emotional and special night."
Senior forward Eleanor Haring took home the MVP award after morphing from a complimentary player as a junior to the team's top scorer this season. She became the 20th member of Oregon's 1,000 point club while leading the Ducks to a 17-14 mark and third round appearance at the Postseason WNIT.
Junior Kaela Chapdelaine earned the Best Defensive Player award, a major accolade on a team best known for its defense. The gritty guard often covered the opposing team's top offensive player regardless of position and helped the Ducks rank third in the Pac-10 in field goal percentage defense.
Italian import Mary Sbrissa picked up a pair of awards. The redshirt freshman was honored as the team's Most Improved Player and earned the Ducks' Scholar Athlete Award, sponsored by Harry Ritchie's Jewelers.
The Green and Gold Award, given out for contributions on and off the court, went to departing operations director Natasha (O'Brien) Ruckwardt. A two-year starting forward for the Ducks in the late nineties, Ruckwardt helped UO capture its first Pac-10 title. She became the program's first ops director in July of 2002 and will be stepping down this offseason to spend more time with her two young children.
UO’s five returning players and one redshirt will now take part in spring drills in preparation for next season. Oregon concluded its 2006-07 campaign by going 6-3 during the second half of conference play and advanced to the WNIT for the second time since 2002.
