April 22, 1999
CLEMSON, S.C. – All four seniors, Itoro Umoh, Amy Geren, Natasha Anderson, and Nikki Blassingame won the Most Valuable Player Award, while Nuria Forns won the team’s Most Improved Player trophy at the 19th Annual Clemson Women’s Basketball Banquet held at the Madren Center on the Clemson University campus Thursday evening.
This group of seniors comprise the winningest senior class in Clemson history with a record of 93 wins and 33 losses (74%). They are also the winningest class in school history for most ACC wins with 50. This senior class won two ACC Championships and appeared in four NCAA Tournaments and four ACC Tournament Title games.
The 1998-99 Lady Tigers finished the season with a school record 26 wins against six loses. Clemson also advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Final 16. The Lady Tigers also won the 1999 ACC Championship and finished the season with an Associated Press final ranking of 10th.
Forns is a proven three point shooter and appeared in all 32 games. She finished the season averaging 3.2 ppg., and averaged 11.7 minutes per game.
The leading Rebounder Award went to Nikki Blassingame. This year, she averaged 7.9 rpg. and finished 15th on the Clemson career list for most rebounds with 537.
Blassingame also won the Best Field Goal trophy as she hit 140-261 from the field this year for a .536 pct. She also finished her career by hitting 50% of her field goal attempts.
Sophomore center Erin Batth won the Best Defensive Player award as she had 27 blocked shots and 35 steals this past season. She also won the Coaches’ Award for her courageous effort this year as she overcame a severe knee injury and continued to play in the postseason tournaments.
The Best Free Throw pct. award was presented to Amy Geren. Geren is Clemson’s all-time free throw pct. leader with a .848 mark. This past season she hit 85% of her attempts.
Itoro Umoh won the Playmaker Award. In 1998-99, Umoh had 182 assists. She finished third on the Clemson career list for most assists with 459. Umoh finished her career ninth on the all-time school scoring list with 1,409. Umoh also won the Annie Tribble Leadership Award.
Amirah Leonard won the team’s Academic Award as she had a 3.62 gpa for the fall semester in speech and communications.
The Best Offensive Player award was presented to Natasha Anderson. She finished her career scoring 1,033 points, 16th on the Clemson scoring list. This season, Anderson was second on the team in scoring with a 13.0 ppg. average.
Leading Rebounder Award Nikki Blassingame Hustle Award Datishella Byrd Best Field Goal Pct. Award Nikki Blassingame Best Defensive Player Award Erin Batth Best Free Throw Pct. Award Amy Geren Playmaker Award Itoro Umoh Annie Tribble Leadership Award Itoro Umoh Bill Nix Coaches' Award Erin Batth Academic Achievement Award Amirah Leonard Best Offensive Player Award Natasha Anderson Most Improved Nuria Forns Most Valuable Players Itoro Umoh, Nikki Blassingame, Amy Geren, Natasha Anderson
December 6, 2024
