Daly, Prutsman and Appel sweep PSUAC postseason awards
Senior Alexis Daly (New Albany, Pa.), freshman McKenzie Prutsman (Jasper, Ny.) and head coach Paul Appel swept the Penn State University Athletic Conference awards on Monday, a tribute to one of the best regular season performances by the Hazleton women's basketball program.
#23 Alexis Daly - For the second straight season, Alexis Daly was named Player of the Year by the PSUAC. The senior averaged a double-double, recording 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds in 2015-16, ranking her in the top five in both categories amongst PSUAC competitors. Daly's 43 steals and PSUAC best 33 blocked shots completed her tour de force, solidifying her as the top women's basketball player in the conference.
The senior's top performance came on February 12 against Penn State Greater Allegheny. Daly notched a season best 25 points and 12 rebounds to go along with two steals to lead her team to a 75-61 victory. The following day versus Penn State Beaver, Daly notched a season high 17 rebounds, including her 1,000 rebounds in a Lady Lion uniform, becoming the second player in Penn State Hazleton history to reach the 1,000 point, 1,000 rebound milestone.
#3 McKenzie Prutsman - In her first season as a Lady Lion, Prutsman ranked second on the squad and 17th in the PSUAC averaging 12.1 points per game and held the second highest free throw percentage in the conference at 79.8 percent. The point guard dished out 84 assists in 2015-16 and her 67 steals were the sixth most in the conference. Her overall ability and body work earned Prutsman an all-conference honorable mention and the freshman was named Newcomer of the Year by the PSUAC.
Prutsman's top performance came on January 12 at Central Penn College where the freshman scored 31 points in 30 minutes on the floor. The point guard swiped six steals in the victory, went 4-7 from beyond the arc and 5-6 from the free throw line en route to her season high scoring output.
Head Coach: Paul Appel - In his first season at the helm of Lady Lion basketball, Appel led his squad to a conference best 21-4 overall record, prompting the PSUAC to name him Coach of the Year. Appel's team limited conference opponents to a league best 54.5 points a game, while outscoring opponents by an average of 20.1 points. The Lady Lions ended the season ranking in the top five in 12 major statistical categories in the conference, earning a runner up finish in the PSUAC tournament. Appel's squad was ranked number one by the United States Collegiate Athletic Association for over a month and the team's body of work landed Hazleton the number two overall seed in the USCAA National Tournament, their second appearance in as many years.