Laval guard Sarah-Jane Marois earns top individual award in women’s basketball

TORONTO – Laval Rouge et Or guard Sarah-Jane Marois has been named the player of the year in Canadian women’s university basketball.

Marois received the Nan Copp Award from U Sports on Wednesday night after guiding her team to the top seed for this week’s national championship tournament.

The fifth-year player from Quebec City was seventh in her conference in scoring (13 points per game), fourth in assists (3.6), second in three-point percentage (41 per cent) and first in free-throw percentage (94.6 per cent).

“It was probably her best season ever since coming to Laval. It is an individual award that celebrates the team’s season, and Sarah-Jane’s performance has been consistent throughout the whole year,” Laval head coach Guillaume Giroux said in a statement.

Other award winners were:

— Concordia Stingers guard Myriam Leclerc as rookie of the year.

— McMaster Marauders guard Hilary Hanaka for student-athlete community service (the Sylvia Sweeney Award)

— Laval forward Khaleann Caron-Goudreau as defensive player of the year.

— Giroux as coach of the year.

— Acadia Axewomen wing Lanae Adams for her courage in overcoming adversity (the Tracy MacLeod Award).