Howell Earns State's Top Honor, Huizar Named to All-Louisiana Third Team APRIL 11, 2009 Shreveport, La. - A record-breaking season and the program's first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament impressed enough voters to allow Ronnie Howell to earn Coach of the Year on the 2009 All-Louisiana Women's Basketball Team as chosen by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Howell beat out LSU's Van Chancellor by one vote to garner Coach of the Year honors. He guided the Lady Pilots to a school record 27 wins after finishing the 2008-09 campaign 27-6. That included a school record 14 game winning streak and the program's first-ever national ranking. He also guided the Lady Pilots to their first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament after placing second in the GCAC - the highest finish in school history. LSUS junior Valerie Huizar also picked up third-team honors on the All-Louisiana Team after leading the Lady Pilots in both scoring and assists in 2008-09. Huizar was the 2009 GCAC Newcomer of the year and an honorable mention selection on the NAIA All-America Team. LSU's Allison Hightower was named Player of the Year while teammate LaSondra Barrett was selected at the state's Freshman of the Year. Alexis Green of Louisiana-Lafayette earned Newcomer of the Year accolades. The team was selected based on nominations by the women's basketball sports information directors of the state and then voted on by a panel of LSWA members. All stats and voting was based on totals through the playing of conference tournaments and post-season play. Huizar Named Honorable Mention All-American MARCH 27, 2009 Shreveport, La. - LSUS junior Valerie Huizar has been named to the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball All-America Team, earning Honorable Mention honors as announced earlier this week by the national office. Huizar, a junior college transfer from Lon Morris College, arguably made the biggest impact for her team during her first season in a Lady Pilot’s uniform. Huizar led the Lady Pilots in both scoring (11.7 PPG) and assists (5.2 APG), while re- writing the record books with a single-season school record 171 assists. She also led the GCAC in assists and tied the single-game school record with 12 on Feb. 19 versus Mobile. The All-American award is the first in the history of the women's program. 2008-09 Women's Basketball Season Recap: One for the Record Books MARCH 25, 2009 It’s been nearly one week since the record-breaking 2008-09 season for the LSUS Lady Pilots came to an end at the hands of the Oklahoma Baptist Lady Bison in the NAIA Division 1 Women’s Basketball National Tournament; however, the lasting memories from the most special season in the history of the LSUS Women’s Basketball program will not soon be forgotten. The list of single-season and team records that the Lady Pilots set in 2008-09 is almost too many to name. If there was a record to be broken in this unforgettable season, it was. The Lady Pilots began the 2008-09 season winning 16 of their first 17 games, including a school-record 14 straight from Nov. 15 to Jan. 24. On January 17, the Lady Pilots established a new single-season record for most wins with 14, breaking the old record of 13 from the previous four seasons. After beginning the season on such an incredible hot streak, the Lady Pilots were rewarded on Jan. 12 with the first-ever national ranking in the NAIA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. They entered their first poll at the No. 22 spot and eventually moved up to No. 21 which is currently the highest ranking ever achieved by the Lady Pilots. As the season moved foward, the wins continued to pile up. Coach Howell and his Lady Pilots finished the regular season with 25 wins and a second-place finish in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference standings. As a result, the Lady Pilots earned a No. 2 seed in the GCAC Tournament and hosted their first-ever conference tournament game on March 4 versus SUNO. LSUS went on to defeat SUNO and then Xavier in the tournament semifinals to advance to their first-ever GCAC Tournament championship game, while also qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in the program’s history. Despite falling in the conference title game versus Loyola, the Lady Pilots received the conference’s second automatic bid to nationals as a result of playing the regular season champion in the finals of the tournament. On March 19, the Lady Pilots made history once again by playing in the program’s first-ever NAIA National Tournament game. Although the Lady Pilots fell to the No. 1 seeded Lady Bison, the experience of making it out to the national tournament and playing against the nation’s best will pay dividends for the future. The Lady Pilots were led by a trio of all-conference selections in 2008-09. Janai Sells, Whitney Hollins and Valerie Huizar were each named to the All-GCAC First Team, while Huizar was also honored as the GCAC Newcomer of the Year. Sells finished her senior campaign as the school’s all-time leading rebounder with 606 career rebounds. Despite missing nearly half of the season due to a foot injury, Sells provided the Lady Pilots with a dominating presence in the paint, averaging 11 PPG and a team-high 7.5 rebounds. Hollins made a huge splash in her second season with the Lady Pilots, establishing herself as one of the premier three- point shooters in the county. Hollins averaged 11.6 PPG, while starting in all 33 games played. She ended the 2008-09 season shooting over 39% from the three-point line and set the LSUS record for most made three-pointers in a single season with 88. Hollins also etched her name in the record books on Feb. 28 by knocking down an LSUS single-game record eight three-point baskets versus SUNO. Huizar, a junior college transfer from Lon Morris College, arguably made the biggest impact for her team during her first season in a Lady Pilot’s uniform. Huizar led the Lady Pilots in both scoring (11.7 PPG) and assists (5.2 APG), while re- writing the record books with a single-season school record 171 assists. She also led the GCAC in assists and tied the single-game school record with 12 on Feb. 19 versus Mobile. Head Coach Ronnie Howell was also named the 2009 GCAC Coach of the Year after leading his team to a school-record 27 wins. Under his guidance, the Lady Pilots established a new record for the highest single-season winning percentage in the program’s history at .818 (27-6). After winning just 13 games in the previous four seasons, Howell took to the Lady Pilots to new heights in 2008-09, and has the future of the program looking very bright. In addition to all of the above mentioned records the Lady Pilots set in 2008-09, they also established new team records for most points scored (65. PPG), fewest points allowed (56.3 PA/G), most field goals (768), field-goal percentage (.428) most three-pointers (193), highest three-point field goal percentage (.343), most rebounds (38.7 RPG), and most assists (14.7 APG). With their two leading scorers (Hollins and Huizar) and another starter (Tish Flowers) coming back for another season, the Lady Pilots have a solid foundation to build on. If Coach Howell can find some quality replacements to fill in the spots created by the loss of his top three post players (Sells, Quan Joseph and Jamien Arvie), the 2009-10 season might be one for the record books as well. Oklahoma Baptist Ends Special Season for Lady Pilots MARCH 19, 2009 JACKSON, Tenn. - Oklahoma Baptist University got a game-high 14 points off the bench from Natasha Hogg in a 57-39 victory over LSUS in first-round action Thursday morning at the 29th Annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship. Oklahoma Baptist never trailed in the contest, opening up a 14-point halftime lead at 31-17 behind nine points each from Hogg and Ashley Harrell, and the No. 1-seeded Lady Bison led by double-digits through the entire second half. Afeisha Noel added eight points and a game-high six of Oklahoma Baptist's 16 steals. Harrell finished with 11 points, and Jennifer Jupin tallied 10 points and a game-high four assists for the Lady Bison in the victory. In the first half, Oklahoma Baptist put together a pair of seven-point runs in addition to runs of six and five points, and the Lady Bison took a 31-17 lead into halftime. Jupin's basket in the paint with 6:24 remaining gave Oklahoma Baptist its largest lead of the game at 54-30. LSUS was led by Janai Sells, who registered nine points along with a game-high eight rebounds for the Lady Pilots. Oklahoma Baptist (30-4), which had lost five of its past six first-round national tournament contests, advances into the second round, where the Lady Bison will take on No. 5-seeded Columbia (Mo.) College Friday at 12:30 p.m. LSUS's winningest season in program history ends with a final record of 27-6. Watch Lady Pilots' First-Ever NAIA National Tournament Game Live MARCH 19, 2009 The LSUS first round match-up versus Oklahoma Baptist in the NAIA National Tournament can be viewed live over the internet for a small fee by visiting the link below.