Loralyn Murdoch was named PACWEST coach of the year after guiding the University of Northern British Columbia women's Timberwolves to a 15-1 record and a first-round bye.
The T-wolves' coach was humbled Wednesday after being recognized by her coaching peers.
"It's not something that's really important to me," said Murdoch. "I think it's more important how the team does. It's very nice to be recognized by my peers but at the end of the day I'd rather my team do well."
Murdoch has coached the UNBC women since 1997 with two years off, one to attend the national coaching institute in the early 2000s and last season when she was on maternity leave.
The coach was more excited about two of her players, fifth-year Jennifer Clyne and third-year Mercedes Van Koughnett, being honoured as first-team all-stars.
"They've worked hard year-round and as a team we worked very hard," said Murdoch from Vancouver where both UNBC teams will play in the PACWEST semifinal Friday at Capilano University. "I wish everybody could get recognition.
"It's very special for Jen in her fifth year to get that recognition and I think it's a really good thing for Mercedes moving forward as a third-year player to finally realize what she's capable of and it's not going unnoticed," she added.
Clyne finished the season with an average of 16.93 points per game and 237 points in only 14 games, having missed a pair before Christmas due to illness. The veteran T-wolf was second in PACWEST scoring. Meanwhile, Van Koughnett topped the league in assists with 76 (4.75 average per game).
UNBC men's coach Todd Jordan said seeing Murdoch receive recognition was as thrilling as seeing four members of the men's team pick up honours.
"She's had the girls playing at a very high level and extremely hard with a lot of discipline," said Jordan, after landing at the Vancouver International Airport on Wednesday. "It's something for our athletic department to be very proud of and a testament to Loralyn and her work ethic."
Jose Araujo, Sam Raphael and Francis Rowe were all named second-team all-stars, while Billy Cheng made the all-rookie team. Araujo averaged 16.50 points per game (PPG), scoring 264 in 16 games, while Rowe averaged 13.06 PPG and Raphael averaged 12.21 PPG.
Jordan said it shows the T-wolves' depth in four members getting selected.
"We probably had two or three other guys beyond those guys who would've been right there and are pretty close to league all-stars as well," said Jordan. "We're a very deep team and it says a lot about the group of guys that we have and the unselfishness of the group."
