Smith Named To Horizon League All-Defensive Team

Posted: Mar 08, 2016

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After leading the Horizon League in steals throughout the majority of the 2015-16 season, Cleveland State women's basketball junior Brooke Smith has been named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team. This marks the first postseason honor for Smith.

Smith is the seventh Viking all-time to earn a spot on the Horizon League All-Defensive Team - the fourth to do so under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad - and the first to earn the honor since the 2012-13 season.

Entering the Horizon League Tournament, Smith is averaging a league-best 3.1 steals per game, and is the only league player to average more than 3.0 steals per contest. She has notched at least two steals in all but five games this season, including a career-high of eight takeaways against UNCG (Dec. 21) and Oakland (Jan. 2) earlier this year.

Nationally, Smith ranks ninth with her 3.1 steals per game, while she also ranks 12^th with her 86 total steals this season.

Smith has been an integral part of a Cleveland State defense that has forced its opponents into 494 turnovers this season, as the Vikings own a +0.8 turnover margin on the year.

Smith is just shy of cracking the top-10 in the CSU Single-Season record book with her 86 steals, needing just five more takeaways to rank 10^th on the single-season list. Smith is also just shy of the top-10 in the CSU Career record book, needing just two more steals to record 150 on her Viking career.

2015-16 Horizon League Postseason Awards

First Team All-League
Kim Demmings, Wright State – Sr.
Ruvanna Campbell, UIC – Sr.
Stephanie Kostowicz, Milwaukee – So.
Rosanna Reynolds, Detroit – Jr.
Christine Roush, Northern Kentucky – Sr.

Second Team All-League
Mehryn Kraker, Green Bay – Jr.
Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State – Fr.
Sarah Cash, Youngstown State – So.
Olivia Nash, Oakland – Sr.
Kaili Lukan, Green Bay – Sr.

All-Freshman Team
Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State
Taylor Jones, Oakland
Emily Vogelpohl, Wright State
Meredith Hamlet, Valparaiso
Molly Glick, Northern Kentucky

All-Defensive Team
Kaili Lukan, Green Bay – Sr.
Brooke Smith, Cleveland State – Jr.
Ruvanna Campbell, UIC – Sr.
Jessica Lindstrom, Green Bay – So.
Richelle van der Keijl, Wright State – Jr.

Player of the Year: Kim Demmings, Wright State – Sr.
Coach of the Year: Kyle Rechlicz, Milwaukee
Freshman of the Year: Ashanti Abshaw, Cleveland State
Defensive Player of the Year: Kaili Lukan, Green Bay – Sr.
Sixth Person of the Year: Brianne Cohen, Detroit – So.

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Smith Named To Horizon League All-Defensive Team