Three Titans were honored for helping Detroit's women's basketball team double its conference wins from just a year ago as senior Brigid Mulroy (West Bloomfield, MI/Marian), sophomore Yar Shayok (Ottawa, ON/Hillcrest) and head coach Autumn Rademacher all earned at least one 2009-10 Horizon League Women's Basketball Post-Season Award. The voting was done by the league's 10 coaches, sports information directors, as well as members of the media.

Mulroy garnered All-Horizon League First Team honors, while Shayok was named 2009-10 HL Newcomer of the Year, which also earned her a spot on the All-Newcomer Team. In addition, Shayok was named to the all-conference second team. Lastly, Rademacher became just the third head coach in Detroit's history to earn conference Coach of the Year accolades.

Mulroy becomes the first Detroit player to be named to the all-conference first team since RanDee Henry in 2002. Mulroy, who was a walk-on her first two years with the Titans, was ranked top 5 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage all season long, except for one week, and currently sits sixth all-time in Detroit's record books with 157 career 3-pointers.

She scored 20 or more points seven times this season and led or tied for the lead among teammates in scoring on 13 occasions. Mulroy netted a career-high 27 points against nationally-ranked Michigan State and she also poured in a personal-best of six treys in a single game three times during the year. Another highlight for Mulroy this season came on Jan. 14 when she nailed one from long range as time expired to help lift Detroit to a 66-65 victory over visiting UIC, which led to her being named Horizon League Player of the Week for the second time this year.

“It's an honor for me to be recognized with this post-season award, especially because I think it's a testament to how well we played as a team this year,” said Mulroy. “I'm very proud to have been a part of the Titan squad this season and am looking forward to the conference tournament.”

Shayok, who received a medical hardship waiver for the 2008-09 season, is one of three Titans who has started every game this year and currently stands 12th in the Horizon League in scoring average (11.7 ppg), first in defensive rebounds (6.9) and third in offensive rebounds (2.7). Shayok has sat in the top 3 among her conference peers in rebounding all year and is currently 36th in the nation with an average of 9.8 rpg.

She collected nine double-doubles on the year, which included a career-high 26-point showing and a game-best 14 rebounds in the Titans' season opener at Oakland. She has grabbed double digit rebounds 15 times and has scored in double figures 20 times thus far this year. Shayok has led or tied for the lead among her teammates in rebounds on 23 occasions, including a career-high showing of 17 rebounds at Loyola, which, at the time, was the third-best showing in a single game among conference performers.

Caitie Goddard (2003) is the last Detroit player who was recognized on the all-newcomer team, as well as conference Newcomer of the Year, while Sandi Brown was named to the 2008-09 All-Horizon League Second Team.

“It's an honor to receive all of these awards,” added Shayok. “I would like to personally credit my teammates and my coaches for believing in me and working with me this season. I truly feel that if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have received the post-season recognition. We are now focused, more than ever, in working hard over the next week so Detroit can be crowned Horizon League Champions.”

In just her second year as the head coach at UDM, Rademacher guided the Titans to a 14-4 mark in Horizon League play and a tie for second in the conference standings, along with a No. 3 seed in the Horizon League Championship. Last season, the Titans finished eighth in the conference and were also chosen eighth in the 2009-10 HL Pre-Season Poll.

In the middle of the conference slate this year, the Titans had won six consecutive games, which was the first time since the 2003-04 campaign that Detroit had accomplished this feat. One of those victories came against nationally-ranked Green Bay at home (Feb. 4) by a score of 71-55, which put Detroit all alone at the top of the conference standings and the Titans held on to that spot for three weeks. The 14 Horizon League wins marks Detroit's best conference win total since the 1996-97 season when the Titans finished 14-2 in MCC play, which was also Rademacher's senior year at Detroit.

The other two Detroit head coaches that received this honor were DeWayne Jones (1986-87) and Fred Procter (1993-94).

"Coaches of the Year is definitely a more suitable term," commented Rademacher. "I would like to publicly acknowledge the outstanding job my staff has done this year and, most importantly, the team."

The No. 3-seeded Titans will host No. 6 Loyola in a Horizon League Championship Quarter-Final match-up on Wednesday, March 10 at 7 p.m.

2009-10 Horizon League Women's Basketball Postseason Award Winners

FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
Melanie Thornton (Butler)
Kailey Klein (Cleveland State)
Brigid Mulroy (Detroit)
Kayla Tetschlag (Green Bay)
Celeste Hoewisch (Green Bay)

SECOND TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
Julie Wojta (Green Bay)
Jasmine Bailey (UIC)
Jessie Miller (UIC)
Yar Shayok (Detroit)
Shawnita Garland (Cleveland State)

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM
Yar Shayok (Detroit)
Brandi Brown (Youngstown State)
Alyssa Pittman (Butler)
Sarah Eichler (Green Bay)
Taylor Foulks (UIC)
Sami Tucker (Milwaukee)
Note: There was a tie for fifth place in the voting.

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Melanie Thornton (Butler)
Shawnita Garland (Cleveland State)
Jasmine Bailey (UIC)
Celeste Hoewisch (Green Bay)
Kanisha Ward (Wright State)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Melanie Thornton (Butler)

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Yar Shayok (Detroit)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Melanie Thornton (Butler)

SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Susan Lester (Butler)

COACH OF THE YEAR
Autumn Rademacher (Detroit)