Howard Payne’s Brittany Roberson has been selected as 2011-12 American Southwest Conference Female Athlete of the Year, the league office announced on Monday after a vote of the conference’s sports information directors and ASC Outstanding Media Service Award members.
The American Southwest Conference Athlete of the Year award, in its 13th year, recognizes the male and female student-athlete whose athletic accomplishments during the current athletic year best contributed to their sport, their institution’s overall athletic program and to the conference. Each ASC member institution nominates its campus Athlete of the Year award recipients to the conference-wide ballot.
Brittany Roberson (Lone Star, Texas / Temple College / Hughes Springs HS), a basketball standout and exercise and sports science major, was named a First Team All-American by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and also earned the title of ASC West Division Player of the Year. Roberson averaged 13.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game this season. She also shot 48.8 percent from the field and led the league in 3-point percentage, connecting on 28 of 59 tries from beyond the arc.
Roberson scored a season-high 24 points against Hardin-Simmons on the road. She also had a season high six steals versus Ferrum College at the Austin College Tournament to start the year. In that same game, Roberson was 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. Roberson dished out seven assists three times this season and recorded a career high eight last year. She was twice named ASC West Division Player of the Week this season and also earned the honor twice in the 2010-2011 season.
“This a great honor for Brittany and we are so excited for her and all of her accomplishments and very proud of what she has been able to do during her time here at Howard Payne,” HPU women’s basketball head coach Josh Prock said. “One of the best parts of Brittany is her humility. She is one of the most humble people I have ever been around.”
Roberson, who was selected to the ASC All-Division First Team the past two seasons, was also named to the prestigious six-player ASC All-Conference Team twice. She was named Second Team All-South Region by D3hoops.com after being listed Third Team All-South Region by D3hoops.com last season. In 2011, Brittany was named the ASC Championship Tournament MVP of the ASC Championship Tournament leading the Lady Jackets to their fifth ASC championship in seven years. The Howard Payne women’s basketball program is 42-14 in Roberson’s two seasons as the Lady Jacket starting point guard.
Roberson becomes just the second ASC Athlete of the Year from Howard Payne, joining basketball star Meia Daniels, who won back-to-back honors in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
“This is an amazing feeling to be named ASC Female Athlete of the Year with being at Howard Payne for two years,” Roberson said. “Unfortunately, I did not get to see Meia Daniels perform but by all the awards she received along with helping the team win a national championship, she was a phenomenal player and to be on a list with her is incredible.”
In the ASC Athlete of the Year women’s voting, Concordia Texas basketball senior Shamika Singleton (Hemphill, Texas/Lubbock Christian / HHS) was second in balloting, followed by Texas Lutheran senior track and field athlete Destiney Jones (Garland, Texas/Naaman Forest HS). Singleton was an all-conference team performer and fueled division and conference titles, while Jones also paced an ASC crown and earned all-American recognition.
