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DAYTON, Ohio – The 2011-12 University of Dayton women’s basketball team celebrated its season during the Flyers’ annual awards banquet Saturday.

Master of Ceremonies Shane White welcomed all for joining in the celebration, recognized UD’s achievements and thanked everyone for their contributions to the program’s success.

Dayton claimed the program’s first-ever Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship. With its 23-7 record in 2011-12, UD has posted 20+ wins for five consecutive seasons. The Flyers advanced to their fifth consecutive postseason this year, including their third straight NCAA Tournament. The Flyers led the A-10 in scoring offense (70.1), scoring margin (+10.1), assists (16.0 apg) and home attendance with an average of 2,382 fans per game

Following a luncheon, the coaches distributed yearly awards to each student-athlete.

First, the Scholar-Athlete Award went to Casey Nance and Justine Raterman and was presented by Director of Basketball Operations Louis Suttmann and Academic Advisor Beth Flach. The award recipients are determined by the individuals with the highest grade point averages during the 2011 spring and fall semesters.  Both seniors on this year’s team, Nance is majoring in marketing while Raterman is a double major in mathematics and education. 

The Flyer of the Year Award is given to an individual who best represents what it means to be a Dayton Flyer in all aspects; serving others in the community, a commitment to her teammates, giving her best academic effort, and above all striving for excellence in all that she does on and off the basketball court.  As a redshirt senior and one of the captains on this year’s team, Elle Queen was third in the conference with 2.6 steals per game in addition to being named to the A-10 All-Defensive Team. Assistant coach Angie Russell presented the award to Queen.

The Coaches Award goes to an individual who exceeds the expectations of the coaching staff by going above and beyond in her quest to be the best.  This could be demonstrated by asking for additional workouts, maintaining a positive attitude during adversity, and representing the type of player that we are so proud to have here at the University of Dayton.  This year’s winner took advantage of every opportunity that was presented to her, including scoring a career high in points in the conference opener against Rhode Island.  Head Coach Jim Jabir presented the Coaches Award to senior Staci Willis.

Assistant coach Angie Russell presented the Most Improved Player award to sophomore Cassie Sant. The award is presented to the individual who has progressed the most during the course of the season.  Sant more than doubled her scoring output from last year and doubled her made field goals, all while leading the team in field goal percentage at 49 percent.  She was named to her first collegiate All-Tournament Team at the Saint Peter’s Holiday Classic earlier this year.

Head Coach Jim Jabir and Vice President and Director of Athletics Tim Wabler presented the final award of the banquet, the White Allen Most Valuable Player Award, to Justine Raterman. Since UD transitioned to Division I women’s basketball in 1984-85, she is Dayton’s modern-era all-time leading scorer, and also holds the modern era records for rebounds, field goals made, and free throws made.  She finished her career second all-time on Dayton’s career list for three-point field goals made with 184.  She was named a Lowe’s Senior CLASS First Team All-American as well as the only player to ever be named to four consecutive Atlantic 10 All-Championship teams. 

Following the awards, a video produced by Justine Raterman featured the seven seniors reflecting on their careers at UD.