To no surprise, WIU’s McCowan is Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year

MACOMB, Ill. — Had anyone other than Western Illinois University guard Raegan McCowan been named the Ohio Valley Conference’s women’s basketball Freshman of the Year, it would have been a bigger upset than 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson beating top-seeded Purdue in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

McCowan won the OVC Freshman of the Week honor 13 times during the regular season and was the OVC Player of the Week four times.

So when the OVC announced its postseason accolades ahead of Wednesday’s start of the league’s postseason tournament, McCowan was the only choice as the top freshman.

A 5-foot-11 guard from Lebanon, Mo., McCowan led the OVC in scoring at 19.8 points per game, and her overall scoring average of 19.2 which is the third highest average of any freshman in the nation. Her 45-point effort against Southern Indiana set the Western Hall single-game scoring record and is the fifth highest scoring game in the nation this season.

In 18 conference games, McCowan shot 43.1 percent from the floor and 81.6 percent from the free-throw line. She averaged 8.8 rebounds with six double-doubles.

McCowan also was named to the All-OVC first team and the league’s all-newcomer team.

Eastern Illinois University double-double machine Macy McGlone was named the OVC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, marking only the second time in OVC history that has happened. The 6-foot-3 junior center collected 25 double-doubles and averaged 18.1 points and 12 rebounds. She led the OVC with 57 blocked shots.

Southern Indiana’s Rick Stein was named the OVC Coach of the Year after guiding the Screaming Eagles to a 17-1 league record and the regular-season OVC title.

The OVC Tournament begins Wednesday at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., with seventh-seeded Western Illinois (18-11) facing sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech (15-14) at 3:30 p.m.