Randolph-Macon’s Molly Ariail Named ODAC Player of the Year Lindsay Riesbeck Named to First-Team; Amanda Hiltunen Named Second Team & Scholar Athlete of the Year
ASHLAND, VA – Randolph-Macon College sophomore center Molly Ariail was named the 2007-08 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday at the league’s yearly awards banquet at the Salem Civic Center.
Joining Ariail on the all-conference teams are junior forward Lindsay Riesbeck who earned First-Team All-ODAC honors for the second consecutive season and junior guard Amanda Hiltunen who was named to the second-team and was chosen by the league’s Sports Information Directors as the ODAC Women’s Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year.
A native of York, Pennsylvania, Arial finished second in the league in scoring at 16.3 points per game and fourth in rebounding at 8.4 boards a night. She was also fourth in blocked shots at a little better than one per game. She earned one ODAC Player of the Week award in which she averaged nearly 18 points and nine rebounds per game. She led her team in scoring 13 times including a stretch of six straight games in early February. Ariail notched a season-high 26 points to go with 13 rebounds in a win over Roanoke in late January, and came back less than two weeks later with 25 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Lynchburg. Last season, Ariail was chosen the ODAC’s top rookie as well as earning a spot on the second team last season.
Riesbeck earns first-team laurels after finishing the regular season ranked ninth in the league in both scoring (12.8 ppg.) and rebounding (6.7 rpg.), while placing 10th in the league field goals percentage (44%) and second in block shots with 55. Riesbeck registered four double-doubles on the season, led the team in scoring on seven occasions and was named the ODAC Player of Week back on January 14th.
Hiltunen boasts a 3.73 grade point average while majoring in political science with a minor in journalism. She has been a member of the Randolph-Macon Dean’s List each semester in Ashland, as well as a member of the ODAC’s Academic Honor Roll. On the court, Hiltunen spearheads the Yellow Jackets’ offense into action. She was twice named an ODAC Player of the Week, finishing the season eighth in the league in scoring at 12.9 points per game. She led the conference in both field goal percentage at 51.1-percent and free throw shooting at 86.7-percent. She was also third in the league in assists at 3.96 per contest.
The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season at 21-4 overall and 14-4 in the ODAC to earn the No. 2 seed in the league tournament that starts tomorrow. R-MC will open up quarterfinal play against Washington and Lee University at 6:00 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center.
Click Here for Full All-ODAC Team
-Yellow Jackets-
Date: Wednesday, February 27 2008
Contact: Chris Kilcoyne, Sports Information Director
(804) 752-7387, christopherkilcoyne@rmc.edu