June 19, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Penn State Lady Lion basketball head coach Coquese Washington is one of the three nominees for the Women's Coach of the Year award as part of the fourth annual Big Ten Network Awards Show. The show will air on Monday, June 20 on the BTN at 7:30 p.m.
BTN will recognize the best of Big Ten sports in 2010-11 with the fourth annual BTN Awards Show live at 7:30 PM ET on Monday, June 20. Mike Hall and Rick Pizzo will host the one-hour show. Joining Washington in the Women's Coach of the Year category are Michigan softball's Carol Hutchins and Wisconsin ice hockey's Mark Johnson.
In addition to Washington, Penn State is represented by wrestling coach Cael Sanderson, who is up for the Men's Coach of the Year honor, as well as the wrestling and women's volleyball teams which are nominated in their respective Team of the Year categories. The show will also feature the announcement of the Big Ten Conference's most prestigious awards, the Suzy Favor Award for its best female student-athlete, and the Jesse Owens Award for the best male student-athlete.
Washington, who was the 2011 BCA Female Coach of the Year, recently completed her fourth season at the helm of the Lady Lions. The Lady Lions returned to the national stage in Washington's fourth year with a second-place finish in the Big Ten regular season standings, a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Tournament and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Penn State tallied its most victories since the 2003-04 campaign and 23rd 20-win season with a 25-10 overall record and an 11-5 mark in conference play. The Lady Lions worked their way back in the "Big Dance" for the first time since 2004-05 and advanced to the second round for the first time in seven years with a win over Dayton in the first round in front of a raucous Bryce Jordan Center crowd. After a remarkable season in the books and steps toward returning the Lady Lions to national prominence, Washington was selected as the 2011 BCA Female Coach of the Year.
Penn State was a dominating force from the perimeter as the Lady Lions tied the school record with 228 three-pointers and led NCAA Division I from deep with a .415 three-point field goal percentage. Pacing the Lady Lions from downtown was Maggie Lucas, who broke the Big Ten three-pointers record with 112 triples to go along with a .426 shooting percentage. For her efforts, Lucas was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year while breaking the Penn State freshman season scoring record (552 pts.). Additionally with Washington's guidance, Alex Bentley became the 11th different player in school history to take home first team All-Big Ten accolades after finishing second in the conference in assists. Washington was also instrumental in the development of center Nikki Greene, who earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive team after recording 75 blocks on the year.
The Big Ten Network is available to more than 75 million homes through agreements with more than 300 cable, satellite and telco providers in all 50 states and Canada. Blue Ridge, Adams and MetroCast Cable in Pennsylvania, though, do not carry the Big Ten Network. The network also is not available to Armstrong Cable customers in western Pennsylvania and the Medina and Youngstown, Ohio areas. A combined total of more than 35,000 Penn State alumni live in communities served by the four cable providers, in addition to thousands more fans and current Penn State students.
The Lady Lions are on Twitter. Follow sports information contact Kris Petersen (@ladylionsid) and the Lady Lions and coaches (@pennstatewbb) to get the inside scoop. The Lady Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstateladylions.