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GCU’s Samantha Murphy, Dixie State’s Johnna Brown, Breann Hill earn West Region accolades
PHOENIX, AZ – Grand Canyon senior guard
Samantha Murphy (Phoenix, AZ/Xavier
Prep), Dixie State sophomore forward
Johnna Brown (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial)
and Dixie State senior forward Breann Hill (Harrisburg,
PA/McDevitt) have been named to the 2011
Daktronics, Inc. NCAA Division II West Region Women’s
Basketball All-Star Team.
The honor was announced on March 9 and saw Brown and Murphy earn First Team honors while Hill was named to the Second Team.
Players on the Daktronics, Inc. NCAA Division II West Region All-Star Team are nominated by the sports information directors from their respective schools and voted upon by the SIDs in the West Region. Players making the First Team are eligible for the national All-America squad that will announced during the NCAA Division II Women’s Elite Eight.
One of the most prolific players in PacWest women’s basketball history, Murphy led the Antelopes to the NCAA Division II West Region title game on March 14 where they fell to Cal Ploy Pomona in a battle for a berth in the Elite Eight.
Murphy finished the season leading the PacWest in scoring with her 24.6 points per game average. She also ranked 13th in rebounding (5.4 per game) and finished 15th in field goal percentage after making 42.7% (233 for 546) of her attempts from the floor.
The PacWest Player of he Year was outstanding from the line,
leading the conference in foul shooting with her 91.4% (234 for
256) accuracy, and she ranked eighth in assists per game (2.9) and
second in steals per contest (2.6). She also ranked second in
three-point shooting (38.7%) after making 86 of 222 long-range
attempts, while her 2.7 three-pointers made per game landed her
third in the league.
Brown and Hill teamed up for a terrific season in St. George, UT, with Brown finishing third in the conference in scoring and Hill landing fourth. Brown averaged 17.0 points per contest while Hill dropped in 16.5 per game. Brown also ranked second in the league in rebounds per game (10.1) with Hill finishing eighth at 8.2.
Brown also ranked fourth in field goal percentage after she converted 55.6% (164 of 295) of her attempts, while Brown was again right behind her in fifth at 55.0% (159 for 289).
Brown was masterful at handing out helpers as well, doling out 3.3 per game to finish fifth in the PacWest this season. Hill ended up in the Top 10 at #10 by posting a 2.8 assist-per-game average.
Hill was terrific from the foul line, finishing the year in third place in the league at 86.0% (117 for 136). She missed just 19 free throw attempts all season. Brown, meanwhile, wound up 12th in foul shooting after making 70.7% (123 of 174) of her free throw opportunities for the year.
Hill also finished the season among the PacWest leaders in thefts. She averaged 2.5 per game to finish third overall, while Brown placed 12th after recording 1.7 steals per game. Brown’s 1.2 assist/turnover ration landed her third in the category.
Dixie State reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA II West Regional where they were beaten by Cal State Monterey Bay.
