The Big 12 Conference awards for women's basketball were announced today and Oklahoma's Courtney Paris was named both conference player of the year as well as defensive player of the year.
Paris, only a sophomore, showed improvement from last season when she was the most dominant player in the conference as a freshman. This year not only was she the most dominant in the conference but also the nation. Here's what the Big 12 website had to say about her.
Paris leads the Big 12 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots for all games and conference-only games. Her season averages are 24.0 points, 16.0 rebounds and 3.41 blocks. She improved her numbers in Big 12-only games to 24.3 ppg, 16.5 rpg and 3.75 bpg. The 6-4 sophomore center has scored 30-plus points in five games this season and over 40 in two games, including a Big 12 season-high 43 points vs. New Mexico (12/30/06). Paris has scored 20 or more points in 19 games in 2006-07 and grabbed at least 20 rebounds in three. The Piedmont, Calif., native registered a double-double in all 28 games to date.