By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – The Illinois State women’s basketball team held its end of the year ceremony Sunday evening inside Redbird Arena in the Legends Room, and three student-athletes walked away with awards. Sophomore Morgan Radtke won the Jill Hutchison Leadership Award, the program’s most prestigious award in honor of the Redbirds’ former head coach that is given to a player who exemplifies all of the characteristics of a Redbird women’s basketball player; senior Lexie Taylor won the Most Improved Player Award; and junior Taylor Stewart won the Best Teammate Award, which was voted on by her teammates.
“It is fun to have this group back together again to honor the seniors and celebrate the ups and downs from the season,” head coach Barb Smith said. “We learned and we grew both as players and as coaches. I know our three seniors will have stories of success with whatever future endeavors come their way. They are great representatives of Illinois State University. I am also very happy for Lexie Taylor, Taylor Stewart and Morgan Radtke for earning the awards they received.”
Radtke, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Palatine, Illinois, appeared in 21 games in her first season. She scored a season-high five points in a home victory over Chicago State and logged a season-high 10 minutes against Southern Illinois.
“Morgan exemplifies what it means to be a Redbird Women’s Basketball Player,” Smith said. “She is unselfish, mentally tough, a leader and a worker. Morgan embraced the challenge of walking on this year and met it head on with hard work, determination and effort.”
Taylor, who is a local product from Normal West, played in all 30 games and made seven starts. She scored 100 points this season, netted a season-high 12 points twice and averaged 3.3 points per game while logging 15.1 minutes per contest.
“Lexie was indeed our most improved player,” Smith said. “She came last year as a walk-on, who had to redshirt due to transfer rules and ended up having a major role on our team as a point guard, a defensive stopper and a scorer for us. She has a great story.”
Stewart, who hails from Lakeville, Minnesota, also appeared in all 30 games and earned four starts. She led the team from the charity stripe shooting 71.4 percent (30-of-42) and knocked down the second-most three-pointers with 26. Stewart averaged 5.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game and scored in double figures four times, including a season-high 14 points on two occasions. She also averaged 21.2 minutes per game.
“Taylor did a great job this year bringing in the freshman and helping them learn the ropes,” Smith said. “She was also one of our most vocal and hard-working players on the court.”
