April 10, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's basketball team wrapped up the 2005-06 season with its annual Lady Tiger Banquet at the Holiday Inn on the University of Memphis campus Monday night.

The award honored the team as well as seniors Tamika Butler and Jamie Bradley and featured presentations from the coaching staff and the Lady Tiger Fastbreak Club.

Junior Devin Necaise garnered the team's Ms. Offense award as the team's offensive MVP. The junior from Necaise Crossing, Miss., finished the year 10th in the league in scoring with 14.1 points per game and led C-USA with a 90.9 free throw shooting percentage. Necaise also ranked seventh in C-USA in three-point field goals made as the Lady Tigers as a team set a new school record with 134 shots sunk from beyond the arc. In 2005-06, Necaise set a new career high in scoring three different times, including 28 points against No. 13 Arizona State, which helped her earn all-tournament honors at the ASU Tournament. On the season, Necaise hit 56 threes, tying Kitty Allen for the second-best single season total in Memphis history. Necaise also set a school record with 24 consecutive free-throws made and became the fifth Lady Tiger in Memphis history to hit 100 or more career threes. Her 396 points scored this past season was 58 points more than her first two years combined at Memphis and she will work with the team's Ms. Defense in guiding the 2006-07 Lady Tiger squad.

Junior Ashley Howard garnered the team's Ms. Defense award after leading the team in rebounding in her first season in a Lady Tiger uniform. The Durant, Miss., native also backed up senior point guard Tamika Butler, finishing second on the team with 76 assists and 51 steals. A 5-8 guard, Howard led Memphis with four double-doubles and added 21 blocks as a guard. Howard ranked fourth in Conference USA in rebounding, and was tied for ninth with 4.5 defensive rebounds a night and was second with 3.71 offensive rebounds. A first year letterwinner at Memphis, Howard also added 6.9 points per night.

Rounding out the team-voted awards was another junior as junior center Megan Gooch was voted Most Improved. The 6-3 center, who was recently inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society this spring, played in 27 of Memphis' 28 games, starting in 24. She scored her first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against East Carolina and capped the year with a career-high three blocks in the Lady Tigers' 87-81 loss to Marshall in the C-USA Championships.

Senior Tamika Butler received the Les Phillips Award presented by Phillips' widow Eva Phillips. Butler was the team's lone returning starter at the beginning of the season and the senior point guard responded with some of her best numbers of her four-year career. She finished her Lady Tiger career with 860 points and 226 rebounds and started in 66 of the 113 career games she played in. Her 374 assists ranks her fifth in the Lady Tiger record book and she became the first Lady Tiger point guard since Kalara McFadyen in 2001-02 to have more than 100 assists in a singles season. The Marianna, Ark., native also scored 20 or more points in four games in 2005-06, including a double-double of 22 points and 12 assists against Ole Miss. In her final game as a Lady Tiger, she scored 22 points. She will graduate from Memphis in August with classmate Jamie Bradley.

Bradley wrapped her two-year Lady Tiger career with 118 rebounds and 46 total blocks. She became the first Memphis player since Melissa Abraham to eclipse the 30-block mark in a single season and at one point, had a streak of 10 straight games with a block. The Northern Oklahoma junior college transfer will graduate in August.

The team was also recognized for their off-the-court accomplishments, which included three Lady Tiger members on the Dean's List, one C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medalist, five members on the Tiger 3.0 Club and two Lady Tigers named to the Tiger Academic 30. Team manager Micah Gill also received the Lady Tiger Award for going above and beyond what was asked of him during the season.

Memphis will return five letterwinners for the 2005-06 season. That core will be joined by the six early signees and more signees that will be announced when the early signing period opens on Wednesday, Apr. 12th.