April 22, 2009

San Marcos, Texas- - The Texas State men's and women's basketball teams held their annual award banquet last Monday night to honor its 2008-09 teams. The men's team improved its overall win total for the third straight year and played in the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time in four seasons as the Bobcats finished 14-16 overall.

The women's team finished the regular season with a 12-16 record and was one of the top shooting teams in the Southland Conference.

The banquet began with the women's head coach Suzanne Fox presenting the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Player award to Victoria Davis, who ranked seventh among Southland Conference leaders in steals with 1.7 per game. She also led the Bobcats in steals and deflections, and ranked second among team leaders in blocked shots.

Brittany Wilson was named the team's Most Improved Player after averaged nearly five points and shot 51 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free throw line while playing an average of 10 minutes per game.

Gabby Mattox received the team's Newcomer of the Year award after ranked eighth among Southland Conference scoring leaders with 12.1 points per game, 15th among SLC rebounding leaders with a 6.0 average, ninth in field goal percentage with 44.9 percent and 10th in free throw percentage with 75.0 percent.

The team's Most Outstanding Player award went to Aimee Hilburn, who ranked among the top five team leaders in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots, field goal percentage and free throw percentage.

The Martha Powell Bobcat pride and leadership award was given to Wilson and Kelsey Krupa for their dedication, perseverance, determination and a "team before me" attitude. Krupa averaged nearly four points in 23 games, and ranked among the team's top five leaders in three-point and free throw percentages.

In addition, Texas State men's basketball coach Doug Davalos honored his four senior players- Brent Benson, Brandon Bush, Corey Jefferson and Dylan Moseley.

Junior forward John Rybak was received the team's Bobcat Award for his consistent attitude and effort throughout the year. Rybak was named First-Team Academic All-Southland Conference selection with a 3.5 GPA in business while averaging 10 points, four rebounds and shooting 40 percent behind the three-point line for the Bobcats. He had a team-high 32 points and 10 rebounds at Rice.

The Jeff Foster Defensive Player award was presented to Bush, who was seventh among Southland Conference leaders with 5.1 defensive rebounds per game. He also won the team's hustle stats that defensive rebounding, blocked shots, steals, deflections and charges.

Bush also received the Lewis Gilcrease MVP award after leading the Bobcats in scoring and rebounding for the third straight season with 15.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He also was second among team leaders in assists and third in steals. Bush ended his Texas State career ranked among the Top four scoring leaders with 1,569 points and 10th in career rebounding with 671. He is the first Bobcat in school history to lead Texas State in scoring and rebounding during three consecutive seasons.

The Rudy Davalos playmaker award went to Jefferson, who ranked ninth nationally and led the Southland Conference in assists to turnover ratio with 2.8. He also finished the season with 159 assists, which is the fifth-highest in school history.

The Vernon McDonald spirit, loyalty and leadership award was given to Benson, who ranked 11th nationally and led the Southland Conference in three-point shooting with 43.8 percent. He also set a school records with nine three-point field goals in two games this season and 95 treys throughout the season. He averaged 14 points per game to rank seventh in the Southland Conference and was the first Bobcat since 1992-93 and only SLC player to score 40 points in a game this year.

The Jack Worthington Sixth-Man award was given to freshman guard John Bowman who came off the bench in 21 games this season.

Texas State also would like to thank its sponsors for the banquet- CenturyTel/John and Chloe Navarrette, the Fastbreak and Sixth Man Clubs and Texas Roadhouse