Flaherty Named MVP at Banquet for Third Straight Season
4/10/2018 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Katelynn Flaherty was named the Most Valuable Player for the third straight season to highlight eight awards given out as the University of Michigan women's basketball team celebrated its 2017-18 season at its awards banquet on Tuesday night (April 10) on the floor of Crisler Center.
Flaherty was named MVP after concluding her illustrious career as the all-time leading scorer at Michigan with 2,776 points. She leaves Michigan as the career leader in points, field goals made (984), three-point field goals made (410), double-figure scoring games (127) and 30-point games (13), while holding the single-game record for three-pointers with 10. Flaherty's 410 three-pointers put her second all-time in NCAA Division I history and she is just the second player to ever hit at least 400. As a senior, she averaged 22.9 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting from the floor and 42.3 percent shooting from three-point range. Flaherty scored in double figures in all but one game, stringing together 25 20-point games and three 30-point games. She also averaged a career-high 4.2 assists per game en route to being one of five finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award. Flaherty was also honored with the Academic Excellence award, given to the player who achieved on the court and in the classroom.
Senior Jillian Dunston grabbed three honors on the evening, highlighted by taking home the Diane Dietz Michigan Way Award -- given to honor the student-athlete who best embodies the values and work ethic of a Michigan women's basketball player. She also earned the Heart and Hustle award for stickers accumulated during games and the Leaders and Best award for accumulating the most practice points in categories established by the coaching staff. Dunston started all 33 games as a senior, averaging a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten. She also averaged 3.3 points and a career-best 3.5 assists in 32.5 minutes per game en route to earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team. Dunston graduates second all-time in rebounding at U-M with 862 rebounds.
Junior Hallie Thome earned the Unsung Hero award, given to the player whose contributions might not always appear in a box score but are invaluable to the team. Thome, who earned WBCA All-Region honors for the first time in her career, averaged 17.4 points per game on 61.6 percent shooting while grabbing 7.0 boards in 31.8 minutes per game. She ended the season with four straight 20-point games and scored in double figures 30 times. She tallied a team-high six double-doubles on the season and shot a career-best 77.5 percent from the free-throw line. For her career, Thome is one of three players in school history to tally at least 1,600 career points (1,679) and 600 career rebounds (685). Thome was named to the All-Big Ten first team by the media and second team by the coaches. She also made the top 10 list for the Lisa Leslie Award.
Junior Nicole Munger was named the Most Improved Player after setting new career highs in her first season as a full-time starter. Munger averaged 9.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in 32.2 minutes per game. She was second on the team with 59 triples on 42.4 percent shooting, helping Michigan shoot 40.2 percent from three-point range. Munger scored in double figures 16 times, including the first 20-point game of her career in U-M's upset at No. 8 Ohio State (Jan. 16).Â
Sophomore Akienreh Johnson was given the Samantha Provenzano Perseverance Award, given to the player who overcame adversity to contribute to the team's success. Johnson appeared in 27 games during her sophomore campaign after recovering from a knee injury that sidelined her as a freshman. Johnson made a breakthrough in February, scoring a career-high 19 points off the bench at Minnesota (Feb. 14) to kick-start a stretch of three straight double-figure scoring games. In Michigan's win over No. 13 Maryland on Feb. 22, Johnson went for 17 points, including a crucial three-pointer with less than two minutes remaining, and eight boards. Over the last six games of the season, Johnson averaged 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game.
Michigan won 23 games in 2017-18, the second most in program history, and won 10 Big Ten games for just the seventh time. U-M made its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance, advancing to the second round for the fourth time, and second time under sixth-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico. Michigan set a program record for three-point field goal percentage at .402, ranking second in the country.
