The University of Toledo
03/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/13/2024 13:00
Rocket Women Earn MAC Player, Coach of Year
Rocket Women Earn MAC Player, Coach of Year
Toledo fifth-year senior Sophia Wiard was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year while Tricia Cullop was named MAC Coach of the Year, the MAC office announced Tuesday.
It is the second consecutive season that Toledo has won both the player of the year and coach of the year honors. Fifth-year senior guard Quinesha Lockett was the 2022-23 MAC Player of the Year.
Sophia Wiard is the seventh Rocket to earn MAC Player of the Year honors.
Wiard and Lockett each were named first-team All-MAC while senior guard/forward Sammi Mikonowicz made the third team.
"I'm really thrilled for Sophia. I thought she earned it," said Cullop, now in her 16th year at Toledo. "To have last year's MAC Player of the Year (Lockett) be injured and miss significant time, there's no question we would not have repeated as MAC Champions if not for the contributions of Sophia Wiard. Her leadership and the way she commands our offense earned her this. There are a lot of great players in our league, so I think it's a testament to how others in the league feel about her play this season.
"What an incredible thing for our program to have back-to-back MAC players of the year. Q and Soph are one of the best duos that I've had the opportunity to coach in my career, and we've had a lot of great duos. They complement each other well, they're incredible leaders and their work ethic sets the tone for our team in practice every single day. In addition to all their statistics they are incredible human beings. I'm honored to get to say I'm their coach. It's been a joy to coach them and I'm glad we're not done."
Wiard is the seventh Rocket in program history to be named MAC Player of the Year. She joins Lockett, Kim Sekulski (1990-91), Dana Drew (1991-92, 1993-94), Latoja Harris (1992-93), Angela Drake (1996-97) and Kim Knuth (1997-98, 1998-99) as conference players of the year at Toledo. It is the fourth time that Toledo has won back-to-back Player of the Year honors with two different players in each year.
Wiard, a Muskegon, Michigan, native, is a three-time All-MAC point guard who earned second-team honors in 2021-22 and third-team recognition in 2022-23. She's averaging 14.9 points this season and ranked second in the MAC three-point field goal percentage (46.1%), third in assists (4.8), second in free throw percentage (87.3%), and first in assist/turnover ratio (2.40). She ranks ninth all-time at Toledo with 1,648 points and sixth in assists with 600. She is Toledo's all-time leader in games played (152) and minutes played (4,746).
Tricia Cullop was named MAC Coach of the Year for a third consecutive year and has tied Bowling Green's Curt Miller with the most MAC Coach of the Year honors with six.
Lockett, who missed six games this season due to injury, ranks fifth in the MAC with a 15.6 scoring average this season. She is eighth in free throw percentage (77.7%) and 10th in assists (3.2). Her 2,351 career points rank second all-time at UT and sixth among active Division-I players. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Lockett is a four-time All-MAC selection who made first-team the past three years and third-team in 2020-21.
Mikonowicz, a Rossford native, is averaging 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds this season. She has started every game in her career (122) and ranks 28th on Toledo's career scoring list (1,085) and seventh in rebounds (859).
"I'm really proud of Sammi. I thought she was steady all season long," Cullop said. "I think she used it as motivation when she got snubbed last year so she went out and made the (2023 MAC) All-Tournament team. I'm thrilled for her and I think the sky is the limit for her next year."
This was the third consecutive year that the league's coaches have honored Cullop as the top coach in the league. She has now tied Bowling Green's Curt Miller with the most MAC Coach of the Year honors with six.
Cullop guided the Rockets to a 25-4 record this season and their third consecutive regular-season MAC title with a 17-1 league mark. She has led the Rockets to five regular-season MAC titles, including the last three in a row, and MAC Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and 2023. Last season, the Rockets defeated No. 5 seed and Big 12 Tourney champion Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2011, her Rockets won the WNIT Championship title. In her career at Toledo, Cullop's teams have a record of 350-167, including 83-15 over the past three seasons. In MAC play, her teams have gone 194-88, including an incredible 52-4 over the past three seasons.