April 21, 2011

Cook, Hayes, Heady take top honors at annual Awards Dinner

Familiar faces in Kellie Cook and Tacarra Hayes, and a new face in Molly Heady, were three of the several women’s basketball headliners on the season who came away with a bevy of honors at the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball Awards Dinner Thursday evening

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --Familiar faces in Kellie Cook and Tacarra Hayes, and a new face in Molly Heady, were three of the several women's basketball headliners who came away with a bevy of honors at the annual Tennessee Tech women's basketball Awards Dinner Thursday evening.

Hayes earned her second consecutive Most Valuable Player award and is the first player to win the MVP award in back-to-back seasons since Emily Christian in 2006.

Heady received a pair of awards including the Frank Porter Award that is given to a player for their overall contributions to he program. She also took the Freshman of the Year award.

Kellie Cook was awarded her second straight John P. Hendrix Leadership award, becoming just the fourth Golden Eagle to receive the award on two occasions.

Other awards winners Thursday included Briana Jordan, who won the Most Improved award, and Kylie Cook, who was named Miss Golden Eagle. Academic award certificates were also awarded to Katherine Barker, Kellie Cook, Kylie Cook and Molly Heady.

Hayes, a guard out of Lebanon, Ky., led the Golden Eagles in several categories this season including points (16.9 ppg), rebounds (7.5 rpg) and assists (4.6 apg). An all-OVC first team honoree for the second straight season, Hayes was named the OVC Player of the Week three times, and recorded a team-high seven double-doubles. In the OVC, Hayes ranked in the top-10 in several categories, including points (4th), rebounds (6th) and assists (2nd).

A forward out of Clarkrange, Tenn., Heady finished second on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) and third on the team in rebounds (5.6 rpg). As the only freshman to play in every game this season, Heady scored at least 10 points in 14 games and tallied her first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds against Murray State, en route to being named to the OVC all-freshman team. A solid sharpshooter, Heady finished the season second on the team in field goal percentage (47.1%) and first in the OVC in free throw shooting percentage (85.5%).

Jordan, a guard out of Atlanta, Ga., was named the team's Most Improved Player, for her play during the closing weeks of the season. During the final 14 games of the season, she played at least 22 minutes a game, which included eight starts. She finished the year second on the team in assists and steals with 87 and 45, respectively.

Kellie Cook, who earned her second straight John P. Hendrix Leadership award, appeared in 28 games, despite battling a series of injuries throughout the season.

Kylie Cook was named Miss Golden Eagle for her character both on and off the court. Kylie, who was one of five players to play in all 31 games this season, finished the year second on the team in three-point field goals with 41.

The Golden Eagles finished their season with a 23-8 record, and captured the OVC regular season championship. Tech also made its fourth appearance in the WNIT Tournament.