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Release courtesy of Joey Roberts, Daktronics D-II Women's Basketball National Coordinator

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Katie Cezat of Hillsdale College has been named the 2009 Daktronics NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Player of the Year.

The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The team is voted on by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The 2009 women’s basketball Daktronics All-American Team is comprised of four seniors and a junior, including a four-time All-America selection.

Cezat was joined by four-time All-American Emily Brister of West Texas A&M, Britney Jordan of Texas A&M-Commerce, Brooque Williams of California (Pa.) and Latoya Wily of Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

The second team consists of Lauren Beckley of Shippensburg (Pa.), Johannah Leedham of Franklin Pierce, Stephanie Sarosi of Nova Southeastern, Jessie Slack of Northern Kentucky and Jahzinga Tracey of Indiana (Pa.).

On the third team is Ida Edwards of Emporia State, Jessica Keller of Quincy, Rebecca Kielpinski of Alaska-Anchorage, Jade Meads of Nebraska-Kearney and Katie Wysocky of Michigan Tech.

Cezat, a repeat first team selection, was the 2009 Midwest Region Most Valuable Player and led her team to the national playoffs after averaging 29.3 points and 16.8 rebounds per game. Cezat is a two-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Player of the Year and was named the 2009 GLIAC Tournament MVP. The senior from Plymouth, Mich. set an all-time Division II record for double-doubles in a season with 28. She also set single-season conference records for points, rebounds, field goals made, free throws made, scoring average and rebounding average. Cezat leads the nation in rebounds, blocked shots (100, 3.2) and field goals made while she is second in the nation in scoring average and free throws made. She recorded 34 steals, 10 assists and averaged .555 from the field and .817 from the charity stripe. Cezat led her team in scoring in all but two of the 31 contests this season and in rebounding in every game. This season, she was twice named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Month (December and February).

Brister is on the first team for the third straight year after being selected to the third team as a freshman in 2005-06. The South Central Region MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior is West Texas A&M’s all-time leading scorer with 2,645 points. She is a three-time Lone Star Conference Preseason Player of the Year and a three-time LSC South Division Player of the Year. Brister has been named the LSC Academic Player of the Year and a three-time LSC Female Athlete of the Year. Brister, who played in the first 23 games of the season before suffering a career-ending injury, has averaged 30.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. She averaged .816 from the free throw line and .436 from the field while recording 97 assists and 81 steals. Brister has been an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America first team selection and Player of the Year while also being named the Fred Jacoby Academic Athlete of the Year by the LSC. The Lady Buff has helped play, and now coach, her team to the Elite Eight.

Jordan, a native of Peoria, Ill., averaged 31.3 points per game this season along with a 6.9 rebounds per outing average. She leads the nation in points per contest and is the LSC single-season points leader and the Texas A&M-Commerce single-season and career points record holder. The senior guard is ranked No. 3 in the LSC in assists (5.4) and in steals (2.4). Jordan garnered the WBCA’s Division II Player of the Month honor for January and was named the LSC North Division Player of the Week five times. She scored 30 or more points in 16 games for the Lions, including a 53-point tally against Abilene Christian to break the LSC single-game scoring record on Jan. 3 of this year. Jordan, who was named the LSC North Division Player of the Year and was selected all-conference first team for the third straight season, was the All-South Central MVP runner-up this year.

Wily, a senior from Laie, Hawaii, was the PacWest Player of the Week six times after averaging 25.6 points and 13.9 rebounds per game this season. Wily averaged .595 from the floor this season and is second nationally in rebounding, third in scoring and third in field goal percentage. She led the PacWest in rebounding, scoring and field goal percentage while averaging 6.3 offensive rebounds per game. Wily set out the 2007-08 season after shoulder surgery, but she came back to be named First Team All-West Region. She was a second team all-region selection in 2006-07 after leading the nation in rebounding. As a junior, she was named the PacWest Player of the Year, a first team all-conference selection and a five-time PacWest Player of the Week.

Leedham, who leads the second team this season after being named the East Region MVP, was named a third-team Daktronics All-American in 2007 and 2008. Beckley, who joins Leedham on the second team, was a first team selection last season.

The online nomination and voting processes are powered by ATHLETICSITE.COM. Headquartered in Charleston, S.C., ATHLETICSITE.COM is the official provider for college athletic websites for over 30 sports organizations, including 26 colleges, universities and conferences primarily at the NCAA Division II level. To receive more information on how your institution can partner with ATHLETICSITE.COM for a customized website solution, visit www.athleticsite.com.

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