The Martlet

The 2009-2010 end-of-year awards for women’s basketball have been released by both Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and CanadaWest, and a trio of Vikes came away as big winners.

Defending CIS MVP Kayla Dykstra received first-team All-star honours from both CIS and CanWest, while second-year guard Debbie Yeboah made the second-team of CanWest’s All-Stars.

The coup de grace went to head coach Brian Cheng, who was awarded Coach of the Year honours from both CIS and CanWest.

Cheng, in his ninth season at the Vikes’ helm, became the second UVic coach to win the Peter Ennis Award, given annually to the best coach in Canada.

Cheng led the Vikes to a 14-4 regular season record — their best in 10 years — capping off the season by becoming the first team to beat top-ranked Simon Fraser University since 2008.

Cheng credits Kathy Shields, the last UVic coach to win the award and the namesake of the court in Mackinnon Gym, with making him the coach he is today.

“Kathy Shields was instrumental in my development as a coach. She’s been with me from day one, mentoring to this day,” he said.

The Vikes were among the best defensive teams in Canada this season and, despite the larger than life on-court presence of Dykstra, produced most of their offence through ball movement and team play.

Cheng indicated that this was hardly an accident.

“You have to work hard, and want to work together and put the team first. That’s what I’ve been taught and that’s what wins games, ultimately,” said Cheng.

Dykstra followed up her 2008-2009 MVP season with a very strong year, averaging 15.6 points per game, good for fourth overall in CanWest.

She also averaged 9.5 rebounds per game, finishing second in the conference.

This was Dykstra’s second year on both the CIS and CanWest All-Star teams.

Yeboah is a newcomer to the CanWest team. The second-year guard was second on the team and 13th in the conference with 13.9 points per game.

Her season, however, is probably best exemplified by the fourth quarter of the final regular season game, when the Vikes beat SFU to end the Clan’s record 54-game winning streak.

Yeboah scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half of the game, topping it off with a game-winning shot from just beyond the free-throw line as time expired.

The Vikes were eliminated by the Saskatchewan Huskies in the opening round of the CanWest playoffs, but with national recognition for some players and the full roster returning for next season, hopes are high for an even better 2010-2011 season.

Simon Fraser’s Robyn Buna took home top honours, winning the Nan Copp award for the nation’s top player. Buna averaged 14.3 points per game and shot nearly 50 per cent from beyond the three-point line.