AuburnSports.com - Fortner, Bonner earn SEC honors

March 3, 2009

Staff Reports

Tabbed as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year in October, Auburn senior DeWanna Bonner lived up to the billing this season as she was voted the SEC Player of the Year by the league's head coaches, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Auburn head coach Nell Fortner was also named SEC Coach of the Year and senior Whitney Boddie joined her teammate on the All-SEC First Team.

Bonner, who was also named to the All-SEC First Team and All-SEC Defensive Team, finished the regular season averaging a SEC-best 20.9 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game. Her scoring average ranks 10th nationally as she is one of only eight players in the country ranked in the top 30 in scoring and top 100 in rebounding.

"I am really proud of her and the type of year that she has had. It is great to see where she came from as a freshman and to finish her career off with such a great senior year," said Fortner. "It is very rewarding for her as a player and for me as a coach. I am just excited for her. She is an outstanding player and I am looking forward to her making a strong run through the NCAA tournament."

Also a candidate for national player of the year, Bonner is the first SEC Player of the Year for Auburn since Lauretta Freeman won the honor in 1993. It marks the fifth time ever for a Tiger to win the award, following Freeman, Vickie Orr (1988) and Carolyn Jones (1990, 1991).

Bonner also finished the regular season as the first-ever Auburn player to lead the SEC in scoring.

The Fairfield, Ala., native moved into second all-time at Auburn in scoring during Sunday's season finale against Arkansas. Her 25 points gave her 2,052 on her career and moved her past Orr. Bonner also picked up the 1,000th rebound of her career in the game and is currently tied for second with Orr at 1,006 rebounds.

Known mainly for her offense throughout the season, Bonner was equally dangerous on the defensive end of the court as she was also named to the All-SEC Defensive Team. Averaging 1.9 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, she is one of only two players ranked in the top 10 in the league in both categories. She is also the first Auburn player to be named to the All-SEC Defensive Team since its creation last season.

Fortner, who is in her fifth season at the helm of the Auburn program, has put together the best season in 20 years for the Tigers as she guided the team to its first SEC title since 1989. Auburn's 27-2 overall record and 12-2 SEC mark account for the most regular-season wins in either category the program's history.

"That is such a team award and I am just surrounded by an outstanding staff and this team has worked so hard this year and bought into everything that we were wanting to accomplish and how to accomplish it," said Fortner. "It is a true team award and I am just proud of everybody that has been a part of this year."

It marks the fourth time for an Auburn coach to win the award after Joe Ciampi claimed it in 1985, 1988 and 1989. It is the second such honor for Fortner as she was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1997 after guiding Purdue to a conference championship.

Rounding out the honorees is Boddie, a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award. She earns All-SEC First Team honors for the first time in her career. It marks the first time under Fortner and first time since 1999 for two Auburn players to be named to the SEC's first team.

"Whitney Boddie is such a good point guard and I am so pleased that she could come back her senior year and show what a great player she is," said Fortner. "She means a whole lot to the success of this team and I am really glad that she was able to have the year that she has had."

Boddie finished the regular season as the national leader in assists, dishing out 8.1 per game. She has also climbed up the Auburn assist record book, currently ranking third all-time at Auburn with 569 assists ? just 24 away from the record.

She led the team in double-doubles this season with eight and also picked up just the second-ever triple double by an Auburn player, either male or female, as she tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists vs. Sam Houston State.

Along with leading the SEC and the country in assists, she also leads the SEC and ranks third in the country with a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Boddie also ranks 25th in the SEC in scoring with 10.8 points per game and is tied for sixth in steals with 2.0 per outing.

A Preseason All-SEC Second Team selection, Boddie went on to post seven of the top 13 single-game assist performances in the SEC this season and can also claim eight of the top 24 single-game assist performances all-time at Auburn.

The No. 6 Auburn women's basketball team is set to return to action at 12 p.m. CT, Friday in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers, who hold the No. 1 overall seed, will take on the winner of the Ole Miss-Arkansas game that is set for 12 p.m., Thursday.

SEC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS

First Team All-SEC
Whitney Boddie, AU
*DeWann Bonner, AU
*Sha Brooks, UF
*Marshae Dotson, UF
*Allison Hightower, LSU
Bianca Thomas, UM
Alexis Rack, MSU
*Christinia Wirth, VU

Second Team All-SEC
Ceira Ricketts, ARK
Ashley Houts, UG
Angel Robinson, UG
Victoria Dunlap, UK
Eleia Roddy, UK
Angie Bjorklund, UT
Shekinna Stricklen, UT
Merideth Marsh, VU
Jennifer Risper, VU

All-Freshman Team
Ericka Russell, UA
Lyndsay Harris, ARK
Ceira Ricketts, ARK
Trumae Lucas, UF
*LaSondra Barrett, LSU
*Lakeisha Sutton, SC
*Shekinna Stricklen, UT
Glory Johnson, UT

All-Defensive Team
DeWanna Bonner, AU
Allison Hightower, LSU
Chanel Mokango, MSU
Armelie Lumanu, MSU
Jennifer Risper, VU

Coach of the Year
Nell Fortner, AU

Player of the Year
DeWanna Bonner, AU

Freshman of the Year
Ceira Ricketts, ARK
LaSondra Barrett, LSU

Defensive Player of the Year
Jennifer Risper, VU

6th Woman of the Year
Charity Ford, ARK

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Christina Wirth, VU

*Unanimous Selection

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