TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo fifth-year senior Sophia Wiard was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year while Tricia Cullop was named MAC Coach of the Year, the MAC Office announced today.  

It is the second consecutive season that Toledo has won both the player of the year and coach of the year honors. Fifth-year senior guard Quinesha Lockett was the 2002-23 MAC Player of the Year.

Wiard and Lockett each were named first-team All-MAC while senior guard/forward Sammi Mikonowicz made the third team.

"I'm really thrilled for Sophia. I thought she earned it," said Cullop, now in her 16th year at Toledo. "To have last year's MAC Player of the Year (Lockett) be injured and miss significant time, there's no question we would not have repeated as MAC Champions if not for the contributions of Sophia Wiard. Her leadership and the way she commands our offense earned her this. There are a lot of great players in our league so I think it's a testament to how others in the league feel about her play this season.

"What an incredible thing for our program to have back-to-back MAC players of the year. Q and Soph are one of the best duos that I've had the opportunity to coach in my career, and we've had a lot of great duos. They complement each other well, they're incredible leaders, and their work ethic sets the tone for our team in practice every single day. In addition to all their statistics they are incredible human beings. I'm honored to get to say I'm their coach. It's been a joy to coach them and I'm glad we're not done."

Wiard is the seventh Rocket in program history to be named MAC Player of the Year. She joins Lockett, Kim Sekulski (1990-91), Dana Drew (1991-92, 1993-94), Latoja Harris (1992-93), Angela Drake (1996-97), and Kim Knuth (1997-98, 1998-99) as conference players of the year at Toledo. It is the fourth time that Toledo has won back-to-back Player of the Year honors with two different players in each year.

Wiard, a Muskegon, Mich. native, is a three-time All-MAC point guard who earned second-team honors in 2021-22 and third-team recognition in 2022-23. She's averaging 14.9 points this season and ranked second in the MAC three-point field goal percentage (46.1%), third in assists (4.8), second in free throw percentage (87.3%), and first in assist/turnover ratio (2.40). She ranks ninth all-time at Toledo with 1,648 points and sixth in assists with 600. She is Toledo's all-time leader in games played (152) and minutes played (4,746).

Lockett, who missed six games this season due to injury, ranks fifth in the MAC with a 15.6 scoring average this season. She is eighth in free throw percentage (77.7%) and 10^th in assists (3.2). Her 2,351 career points rank second all-time at UT and sixth among active Division-I players. A native of Omaha, Neb., Lockett is a four-time All-MAC selection who made first-team the past three years and third-team in 2020-21.

Mikonowicz, a Rossford, Ohio native, is averaging 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds this season. She has started every game in her career (122) and ranks 28^th on Toledo's career scoring list (1,085) and seventh in rebounds (859).

"I'm really proud of Sammi. I thought she was steady all season long," said Cullop. "I think she used it as motivation when she got snubbed last year so she went out and made the (2023 MAC) All-Tournament team. I'm thrilled for her and I think the sky is the limit for her next year."

This was the third consecutive year that the league's coaches have honored Cullop as the top coach in the league. She has now tied Bowling Green's Curt Miller with the most MAC Coach of the Year honors with six.

Cullop guided the Rockets to a 25-4 record this season and their third consecutive regular-season MAC title with a 17-1 league mark. She has led the Rockets to five regular-season MAC titles, including the last three in a row, and MAC Tournament Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and 2023. Last season, the Rockets defeated No. 5 seed and Big 12 Tourney champion Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2011, her Rockets won the WNIT Championship title. In her career at Toledo, Cullop's teams have a record of 350-167, including 83-15 over the past three seasons. In MAC play, her teams have gone 194-88, including an incredible 52-4 over the past three seasons.

 2023-24 MAC Women's Basketball All-MAC Teams & Specialty Award Winners
Coach of the Year: Tricia Cullop, Toledo
Player of the Year: Sophia Wiard, Fifth-Year, Guard, Toledo
Defensive Player of the Year: Nyla Hampton, Junior, Guard, Ball State
Freshman of the Year: Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Guard, Buffalo
Sixth Player of the Year: Annie Rauch, Senior, Forward, Ball State
 
All-MAC First Team 
Ally Becki, Junior, Ball State, Guard
Chellia Watson, Redshirt Senior, Guard, Buffalo
Katie Shumate, Redshirt Senior, Guard, Kent State
Sophia Wiard, Fifth-Year, Guard, Toledo
Quinesha Lockett, Fifth-Year, Guard, Toledo

All-MAC Second Team 
Reagan Bass, Junior, Forward, Akron
Nyla Hampton, Junior, Guard, Ball State
Amy Velasco, Junior, Guard, Bowling Green
Morgan Sharps, Fifth-Year, Guard, Bowling Green
Kaitlyn Zarycki, Graduate, Guard, Western Michigan
 
All-MAC Third Team 
Madelyn Bischoff, Junior, Forward, Ball State
Erika Porter, Senior, Forward, Bowling Green
Jenna Batsch, Junior, Forward, Kent State
Brooke Stonebraker, Senior, Forward, Northern Illinois
Sammi Mikonowicz, Senior, Guard/Forward, Toledo
 
All-MAC Honorable Mention 
Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Freshman, Guard, Buffalo
Amber Tretter, Freshman, Forward, Miami
Jayden Marable, Senior, Guard, Northern Illinois
Jaya McClure, Sophomore, Guard, Ohio
Kennedi Watkins, Junior, Guard, Ohio
 
MAC All-Freshman Team
Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Guard, Buffalo
Paige Kohler, Guard, Bowling Green
Janae Tyler, Forward, Kent State
Amber Tretter, Forward, Miami
Bailey Tabeling, Guard, Ohio
 
MAC All-Defensive Team
Ally Becki, Junior, Ball State, Guard
Nyla Hampton, Junior, Guard, Ball State
Tayra Eke, Junior, Center, Eastern Michigan
Katie Shumate, Redshirt Senior, Guard, Kent State
Kaitlyn Zarycki, Graduate, Guard, Western Michigan
 
2024 Mid-American Conference Tournament
The Rockets are the No. 1 seed in the 2024 Mid-American Conference Tournament and face No. 8 seed Western Michigan in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, March 13 in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rockets will tip off vs. the Broncos at 11:00 a.m. with streaming on ESPN+.

With a victory in Wednesday's quarterfinal, the Rockets would play in Friday's first semifinal vs. either No. 4 seed Buffalo or No. 5 seed Bowling Green at 10:00 a.m. on ESPN+. The championship game will be played on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. on the CBS Sports Network.

Tickets can be purchased online at utrockets.com/mactournament, by calling 419.530.GOLD, or visiting the Rocket Ticket Office in Savage Arena. Only tickets purchased through the Athletic Department will be in the Rocket section of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

All ticketing is digital per the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and tickets will be transferred before each game via email. A Rocket Ticket Office representative will be on-site at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland Cliffs entrance -corner of Huron and E 6th) if you need assistance on the day of the game. For assistance with digital tickets, fans can call or text 419.530.4653.

The University of Toledo Alumni Association will host pre-game events before every game two hours before tip-off at Harry Buffalo, 2120 E. 4th St. in Cleveland. For more information, go to the UToledo Alumni Association event website.
 
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