WACO, Texas (March 5, 2015) –
McKenzie Stanford and
Sydney Hill, who helped lead a late-season turnaround by Oklahoma Christian, have been honored on the All-Heartland Conference women's basketball teams for the 2014-15 season.
Stanford was named to the NCAA Division II league's second-team list while Hill received honorable mention for the second straight season. They played significant roles as the Lady Eagles finished 12-14 overall and 9-9 in league play (tied for fourth) after starting the season 3-9 and 0-4, respectively.
"I'm proud of them both," OC coach
Stephanie Findley said. "McKenzie was our steadying force all year and is very deserving of a second-team selection, if not first-team, as the fourth-leading scorer in the conference. Sydney came on strong as she got healthy and we made a strong run at the end of the season because she was at 100 percent."
Stanford, a 5-foot-11 sophomore forward from Perkins, finished fourth in the conference in scoring at 16.6 points per game and 11th in rebounding at 6.2 boards per game. She was a two-time Heartland player-of-the-week selection, one of only three players to receive that award multiple times this season.
She scored a career-high 30 points on the road in a win over Oklahoma Panhandle State, with 26 of those coming after halftime as the Lady Eagles broke open a tight game. She also scored 29 points in a win over Mid-America Christian in a rematch of last season's National Christian College Athletic Association Central Region title game.
Hill, a 5-foot-6 junior guard from Edmond, averaged 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game, finishing fifth in the league in the latter category and 17th in scoring. After OC lost two key members of its backcourt to injury early in the season, Hill became a steadying force at guard and often keyed the Lady Eagles' fierce defense.
She hit arguably the biggest shot of the season for the Lady Eagles, banking in a jumper with 2.7 seconds left to lift OC past NCAA Division II regionally ranked St. Mary's (Texas). Including that game, OC won six of its last nine contests to move up the conference standings.
"We are looking forward to even better seasons for Sydney and McKenzie and our entire team next season," Findley said.
As for the Heartland's individual honors, Morgan Pullins of St. Mary's (Texas) was named as the player of the year, Jasmine Brainard of Arkansas-Fort Smith was the newcomer of the year, Kellyn Schneider of Lubbock Christian (Texas) was the defensive player of the year, Tess Bruffey of Lubbock Christian was the freshman of the year and Louis Whoron of Arkansas-Fort Smith was the coach of the year.
