Women's Basketball Hands Out 2015-16 Awards At Annual Banquet

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's basketball team held its annual end of the year banquet on Tuesday evening at the Touchdown Club inside Dal Ward Athletic Center. The Buffaloes, joined by school administrators, donors, support staff, family members and fans reflected on their 2015-16 season while handing out several individual awards.

Head coach JR Payne, who was named the eighth head women's basketball coach in program history last month had a chance to meet many of those in attendance and also introduced associate head coach Toriano Towns and assistant coach Shandrika Lee. The coaching staff recognized 12 letterwinners and honored senior Jamee Swan. Before the evening was over, a combination of players and athletic staff handed out a few individual awards.

Junior Haley Smith was presented with the Ceal Barry Pride Award. The award, presented by Barry, is given to the player who shows pride in the program through leadership and strong work ethic both on the court and in the classroom. Smith consistently brought her best throughout the season and provided support and encouragement for all of her teammates. She led by example and built great relationships with her teammates, coaches and professors. Striving for a high-level of excellence in the classroom, Smith is a mechanical engineering major with a focus on biomedical engineering. She holds a stellar 3.65 cumulative GPA and was named a Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention for a second straight year. She started 29 games in 2015-16 and averaged 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds. Smith finished the season ranked 19th in the Pac-12 in rebounding and 28th in scoring while leading Colorado in both field goal (.459) and free throw (.881) percentage.

Swan received the Lisa Van Goor rebounding award after leading the Buffs in that category for the second consecutive season, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. Her teammate, redshirt sophomore Ariana Freeman presented the award.

The four-year letterwinner ranked 12th in the Pac-12 Conference in overall rebounding. She also ranked 13th in the league in offensive rebounds at 2.3 per contest and 12th in defensive rebounds, averaging 4.7 a game. Swan had four games with double figure rebounds, including a season-high and team single-game high of 13 at Wyoming. She registered a team-best four double-doubles and finishes her career with 14 total, which is tied for 11th all-time in program history. Her 772 career rebounds is seventh on the all-time list and she is only the eighth Buff to record more than 1,200 points (1,245) and 700 rebounds in her career.

The Crystal Ford-Adams Scholar-Athlete award went to freshman forward Makenzie Ellis. Academic coordinator Chris Howlett was on hand to present the honor.

Ellis is majoring in integrative physiology and owns an impressive 3.76 GPA. She played in all 30 games, making nine starts during her first year at Colorado. She was third on the team in free throw percentage at 83.9 percent and was fourth on the team in rebounding during Pac-12 play with 3.0 rebounds per game. Ellis was named to the Dean's List this past fall and also is a member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

Smith presented the evening's final award, known as the RISE Award to a trio of teammates after they each elevated their game to the next level this past season. Freshmen Kennedy Leonard and Alexis Robinson along with Swan won the award.

Leonard was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team by both the league coaches and media and was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention. In her first season for the Buffs, she led the team in assists (4.6 apg) and steals (1.4 spg), and was second on the squad in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per contest. She ranked sixth in the conference in assists, 15th in steals and 20th in scoring.

Robinson earned Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention. She played in all 30 games, making 20 starts and closed out her first year averaging 7.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Swan earned her second straight All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and was among the league leaders in several categories. She finished the year ranked in the top 15 of the Pac-12 in scoring, rebounding, offensive and defensive rebounding, field goal and free throw percentage and blocks.

Junior Lauren Huggins also announced sophomore Brecca Thomas as the team's Free Throw Ladder Champion and presented the Heart of the Buffalo Award to Smith.