Irvin Wins Collegiate Basketball Award of Excellence
4/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 13, 2005
FORT WORTH, Texas -- TCU women's basketball senior forward Sandora Irvin received the Creamland Dairies Collegiate Basketball Award of Excellence Tuesday evening in Albuquerque, N.M. The Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau also selected Dee-Dee Wheeler from Arizona and Kendra Wecker of Kansas State as finalists for the award. Texas Tech's Ronald Ross, the brother of TCU Lady Frog Adrianne Ross, won the award for the men.The Collegiate Basketball Award of Excellence honors college seniors for their athletic and academic achievements, as well as their community involvement. The award, now in its third year, was first presented in Albuquerque following the 2002-03 season.
Irvin has received plenty of national recognition for the 2004-05 season. She was chosen to the 10-person United States Basketball Writers Association and Kodak/Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America Teams. Irvin also nabbed a spot on The Associated Press All-America First Team.
Irvin helped the Lady Frogs win their second Conference USA Tournament title in the past three years this season. She was selected to the All-Tournament Team for a third consecutive year and named Most Valuable Player for the second time in her career. Irvin took home the top honor in 2003 when she posted 26 points and 19 rebounds in the championship game that TCU won 85-76 over Cincinnati in overtime. In the 60-41 win against Louisville in 2005, she netted 21 points and pulled down nine boards.
Prior to the start of the C-USA Tournament, Irvin was chosen as one of 11 members to the league's All-Decade Team. She also took home C-USA First Team praise for the second consecutive year and earned her first Player of the Year nod. Irvin snagged Defensive Player of the Year honors as well for the third year in a row.
Irvin has received numerous other honors this season, being named to the Miami Jam and Rainbow Wahine Classic All-Tournament Teams in November. She was also tabbed the MVP for the Wahine Classic after TCU upset then-No. 3 Georgia and then-No. 13/14 Michigan State to win the title. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is also one of three players in C-USA history to be named Player of the Week four times in one season.
Irvin was named the WBCA National Player of the Month for her December performance earlier in January. Irvin averaged 22.5 points, 13 rebounds, 3.6 blocks and 2.8 steals in TCU's eight games during the month. She tallied a career-high 32 points versus Oklahoma Dec. 9 in an 81-65 victory. Irvin scored at least 20 points in six of the eight contests and was in double digits in the rebounds category in all but two games as well.
Irvin finished the 2004-05 season averaging 19.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 2.1 assists and 2.5 steals. She ranked 13th in the nation in scoring, second in rebounding and third in blocked shots. Her 150 blocks fell two shy of tying the NCAA's single-season record.
Some of Irvin's numbers this season were of record-setting quality. She broke the NCAA single-game record for blocks with 16 versus UAB Jan. 16. Amy Lundquist from Loyola Marymount held the previous standard of 15. Irvin also had the first triple-double in school history against UAB by adding 20 points and 18 rebounds.
The next record Irvin broke was the NCAA's career mark for blocked shots of 428, doing so versus Memphis Feb. 5. She needed just three going into the game and finished with eight. Her final career tally was 480 after recording six rejections in TCU's first-round loss to Oregon in the 2005 NCAA Championship.
Irvin owns 10 of TCU's 19 career records including games started (118), field goals made (686), field goals attempted (1,503), free throws made (482), free throws attempted (705), points (1,892), scoring average (14.9), rebounds (1,370), rebounding average (10.8) and blocked shots (480).
