Brandi Brown named Horizon POY

Staff report

INDIANAPOLIS

Youngstown State junior forward Brandi Brown was selected as the Horizon League preseason player of the year in the conference’s 2011-12 poll.

Brown, a second-team all-conference pick last season and the league’s top scorer, edged Green Bay senior Julie Wojta by one point for the preseason player of the year honor.

Brown finished with 260 points, and Wojta and Wright State’s Molly Fox were the only other two players to finish with at least 140 points.

Brown, from Pomona, Calif., scored 597 points in 30 games last year for a league-leading 19.9 points per game. She ranked fourth in rebounding with 9.2 per game and tied for the league lead with 13 double-doubles. Her field-goal percentage (47.2 percent) ranked seventh.

Brown was even better in league play, averaging 22.6 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent from the field.

Brown, Wojta and Fox were joined by Cleveland State’s Shalonda Winton and UIC’s Jasmine Bailey on the preseason first team.

Green Bay was chosen as the preseason favorite in the team poll. The Phoenix received 29 out of 30 first-place votes. They were followed by Cleveland State, Wright State, Butler, UIC, Milwaukee, Detroit, Loyola, Valparaiso and YSU.