Morris adds State College Women’s Athlete of the Year award to impressive résumé
SEWARD, Neb. – For the fifth time since 1990 and for the second time in three years, a Bulldog has been named the State College Women’s Athlete of the Year by the Lincoln Journal Star. NAIA Division II women’s basketball national player of the year Bailey Morris is the recipient of this year’s award following arguably the best individual season for any player in program history. The Lincoln Journal Star announced Morris as the winner in a news feature article on Thursday.
“I never played for any awards — honestly, never in my mind — but I did want to play on a championship team and that never happened,” Morris told the Journal Star. “We all did what we did for the team. Tracy Peitz, Becky Mueller, Mary Janovich, all the seniors knew how to help each other, push each other and win games. That was the best part of college basketball for me.”
Morris ended her career with a school record 2,054 points over 136 career games. On program career lists, Morris also ranks second in steals (394) and fourth in assists (502). The 5-foot-4 point guard averaged 18.5 points, 5.17 assists and 3.78 steals per game as a senior. Her 45 points on Feb. 15, 2014, in a win over Northwestern remain a program record for the highest individual single-game scoring output.
Morris career achievements
- School record for career scoring (2,054 points) and single-game scoring (45 points)
- 2014-15 NAIA Division II national player of the year
- 2015 Lincoln Journal Star State College Women’s Athlete of the Year
- Two-time GPAC player of the year
- Two-time first team NAIA All-American
- 2014-15 Concordia Senior Female Athlete of the Year
- Two-time Omaha World-Herald NAIA All-Nebraska honorary captain
- 2015 national tournament first team all-tournament
- Eight-time GPAC player of the week
- 2014-15 Capital One academic all-district
- Led Concordia to four-year record of 119-21, first-ever national title game appearance, two total national semifinal trips, four-straight national tournament berths, two GPAC regular-season titles and two GPAC tournament trophies
Said head women’s basketball coach Drew Olson, “Bailey is the best player in our program's history. Her individual and team accomplishments prove that. What she did was remarkable. Bailey's game evolved so much in different ways. Her freshman year was a great start – being an impact player off the bench on a final four team. Her sophomore and some of her junior year showed her sacrifice for the team by coming off the bench even though she was one of our best players. Then when Kristen Conahan went down (ACL injury), Bailey changed her game again, midseason, to be a dominant scorer. She put the team on her shoulders and together they found a way to win a GPAC championship. Then she evolved again her senior year to balance her scoring with getting others involved. She always did what we asked of her and did everything for the team. It's impressive to look back at the change from freshman year to senior year. She is a perfect example of work ethic and determination resulting in reaching her potential.”
All-time Concordia state college women’s athletes of the year
2015 – Bailey Morris
2013 – Sarah Kortze
2005 – Molly Engel
1998 – Stephanie Schilke
1990 – Carol Bailey