March 23, 2009 – Senior Katie Cezat became the first player in the history of Hillsdale College basketball to be named National Player of the Year, an honor she received Monday night from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

Cezat also earned First-Team All-American honors from the WBCA. Voting for the WBCA awards was conducted by Division II women’s basketball coaches nationwide. Cezat was also named First-Team All-American and National Player of the Year from Daktronics, in voting held by sports information directors around the country.

In 2008-09, Cezat put together a season that will go down as one of the finest in the 28-year history of Division II women’s basketball. She led Hillsdale to a 27-4 record, a GLIAC championship, and a ranking as high as No. 3 in the nation. She averaged 29.3 points and 16.8 rebounds per game, while leading the nation with 100 blocked shots and 333 field goals made. She was second in the nation in scoring average, finishing with 908 total points, the fourth-highest total in Division II history.

Her 521 rebounds are the second-most in a single season in Division II history, and she set a new national record with 28 double-doubles this season. Her 18 straight double-doubles to end the season also represent the second-longest such streak in one season in Division II history.

Cezat finishes her career holding or sharing a total of 33 records, spanning school, conference and national marks. Her rebounding average of 16.8 is the highest by any player in Division II since 1992-93, and her scoring average goes down as the seventh-best total in Division II history.

In leading the Chargers to their second-ever GLIAC tournament championship, Cezat set conference tournament records for points, rebounds and free throws made in a tournament series. During the regular season, she rewrote the conference record book, setting new records for total points, total rebounds, blocked shots, field goals made, free throws made, scoring average and rebounding average. She had 35 points and 15 rebounds in Hillsdale’s 81-69 win over Michigan Tech in the 2009 GLIAC Tournament Championship Game, and was named tournament MVP.

She was named the GLIAC South Division Player of the Week 11 times out of a possible 15 weeks, and won the award a total of 16 times, including five such occasions during the 2007-08 season.

Cezat was also named First-Team All-American by both the WBCA and Daktronics following the 2007-08 campaign. On Feb. 2, 2008, Cezat broke the school’s single-game scoring record with 42 points against Wayne State. In that same game, she set school records for free throws made (18) and attempted (23) in one game.

As a senior, Cezat was recognized in Sports Illustrated magazine’s “Faces in the Crowd” section, which highlighted her incredible performance in a Dec. 13 win at Ferris State. In that game, she finished with 36 points, 20 rebounds and 13 blocked shots, the second triple-double in school history. Her 13 blocks in that game were the most by a Division II women’s player in this decade, and was the fourth-highest such total in college basketball history. Her 100 blocked shots this season were six more than the previous career school record of 94.

Over the past two years, Cezat has led the Chargers to their two best seasons in school history. The team won back-to-back GLIAC South Division championships, and finished with a combined record of 50-9. The team’s 34-5 mark in the GLIAC is also tops in the conference over the past two seasons.

Cezat will be recognized for her achievements at the Division I Women's Basketball Final Four, to be held in St. Louis in early April.

To view the WBCA’s press release about Cezat’s honor, please click on the link below.

WBCA National Player of the Year press release


To view the Daktronics press release, click on the link below.

2008-09 Daktronics Women’s Basketball All-American Team