Feb. 27, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Two La Salle University Women's Basketball players were honored by the Atlantic 10 as the conference released its postseason awards today. Junior Carlene Hightower and senior Crista Ricketts were recognized for their efforts this season.

 

A year after being named the conference's Most Improved Player; Hightower receives two honors from the A-10. First, she is selected to the All-Conference First Team, after averaging 17.9 points per game - second only to Temple's Kamesha Hairston, the 2007 A-10 Player of the Year. She becomes the third Explorer to be named to the A-10's First Team, joining current Associate Head Coach Chrissie (Donahue) Doogan (1996-97), and Ricketts, last year.

 

Hightower led the conference in steals per game (2.34), which helps her get on the A-10's All-Defensive Team as well. Named to the Preseason All-Defensive team, she becomes the first Explorer ever be named to this postseason team.

                                                                       

For the season, Hightower reached double figures in scoring 24 times, which included a team-high 14 games with at least 20 points. During one stretch, she scored 20+ points in six straight games, becoming the first Explorer in more than 20 years to accomplish the feat. She also scored a career-high 31 points in the next to last game of the season, helping the Explorers upset #4-seed Charlotte last Thursday.

 

Hightower also averaged 7.1 rebounds a game (second on the team; 10th in the A-10) and is second on the team in assist per game (2.45) as well. She became the seventh Explorer to ever have at least 400 points and 200 rebounds in the same season, and then became La Salle's first 500-point scorer in more than 12 years.

 

Ricketts, already the most decorated Explorer ever from A-10 honors, was selected to the All-Conference Second Team. She was named First Team All-Conference last year, made the second team as a sophomore and was on the rookie team in 2003-04. She is the only player to make an A-10 team in all four years at La Salle.

 

This marks only the third time in La Salle's history in the A-10 that two players have been named to postseason teams in the same season - in 1995-96, Donahue was a second teamer, while Lori Sparling made the third team; joining Ricketts last season was Davineia Payne on the second team.

 

For the season, Ricketts averaged 17.0 points (third in the conference), 7.5 rebounds a game (sixth), and was third on the team in assists, averaging 2.14. She became the sixth Explorer to ever have at least 400 points and 200 rebounds in the same season, while registering a team-high eight double-doubles and also had 10 20+ point scoring games.

 

La Salle (19-10) tied for sixth place in the conference, but due to tie-breakers got the eighth seed. They will open up the A-10 Championships, facing Dayton in the first game, Friday at 12 PM at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, OH.