By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) has announced its postseason awards in basketball, and the No. 2 Owens Community College women's basketball team was honored for its perfect conference regular season.
Sierra Harley (Africentric/Columbus, Ohio) was voted the league MVP in women's basketball. The freshman guard finished third in the league in scoring (15.6 PPG), tied for 10th in rebounding (7.1 RPG), second in assists (6.2 APG) and second in steals (3.3 SPG). She also finished fifth in assist/turnover ratio at 2.2.
Harley is the first player from Owens to be named league MVP since Jasmine Blanton in 2010-11. She is the fourth player in the program's history to earn the honor, and she is the first freshman to do so.
In addition to Harley, sophomore forward Ashley Tunstall (Huber Heights Wayne/Dayton, Ohio) was named First Team All-OCCAC. She averaged 11.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.4 assists in conference play.
For Tunstall, it is the second straight year she has been named First Team All-OCCAC. She becomes the 21st player in program history to earn All-OCCAC honors twice, but she is only the fourth player to earn First Team All-OCCAC honors twice.
Two other players from Owens, Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio) and Demy Whitaker (Notre Dame Academy/Toledo, Ohio), also earned All-OCCAC honors.
Williams, a freshman guard, was named Second Team All-OCCAC after averaging 11.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game in conference play. Whitaker earned Honorable Mention All-OCCAC honors after averaging 10.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game in conference play.
Additionally, 11th-year head coach Mike Llanas was named the OCCAC Coach of the Year after guiding Owens to a 29-1 overall record and a 14-0 record in OCCAC play. He led the team to its third straight OCCAC title and the program's fourth over the past five seasons. It is his first coach of the year award since 2011-12 and his fourth overall.
The Owens women will open postseason play tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the Region XII District I semifinals against Sinclair Community College. You can watch the game online here