Fish, Wortz earn WBCA honors
3/23/2022 10:04:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA, GA. - The St. Cloud State University women's basketball team put together nothing short of a historic season in 2021-22, claiming its spot as the top team in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). For their performances, two Huskies are earning honors from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Fifth year senior Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) was named to the organization's All-America Honorable Mention team for the second straight season, while head coach Lori Fish was named a finalist for the prestigious United State Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year award after being named the Central Region Coach of the Year.Â
Wortz caps off a stellar career with her second All-America honor, as she was named to the WBCA All-America Honorable Mention team Wednesday morning. A fifth year senior, Wortz led the Huskies to one of their best seasons in program history by averaging 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assist in her final season with St. Cloud State. She earned First Team All-NSIC honors after averaging a career-high 14.8 points per game during the regular season while shooting .412 from the floor and .339 from three point range. These numbers helped Wortz move to seventh all-time in career scoring and break the school record for career three pointers made. While her overall numbers are impressive, Wortz was even better in conference play, averaging 15.1 points thanks to her .415 shooting percentage. Wortz scored a team-leading 318 points in 21 NSIC games this season and added 85 rebounds, 56 assists, seven blocks and 27 steals to her statline.Â
The All-America honor is one of many Wortz received in 2021-22, as she became the first player in program history named to four All-NSIC teams and four Academic All-Conference teams. She was additionally named the NSIC Outstanding Senior of the Year and Second Team All-Region by the Division II Conference Commisioner's Association (D2CCA). Wortz will graduate in May with a cumulative GPA of 3.97 and a degree in biomedical science and plans to pursue further education at Indiana University to become an optometrist.Â
Fish was one of eight head coaches in Division II nominated for the 2022 United State Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year honor after being named the WBCA Central Region Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons. With Fish at the helm, St. Cloud State made plenty of history in 2021-22, earning its first NSIC overall title since 1983-84 and first NSIC North Division title since 2012-13. The Huskies additionally went undefeated at home for the first time in the Fish era, posting a flawless 12-0 record in Halenbeck Hall and closed the regular season with the #11 scoring defense in the nation. St. Cloud State made its third consecutive trip to both the NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament championship game and NCAA tournament, earning the No. 5 seed in the Central Region. Once there, the Huskies won their first NCAA tournament game since 2004-05, upending Missouri Southern 69-67 in overtime to advance to the regional championship.Â
Fish additionally helped several student-athletes find success in 2021-22, including Wortz, Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / Eau Claire North) and Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere). Like Wortz, Kilboten earned First Team All-NSIC honors, while Evans repeated as the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year and was voted Second Team All-NSIC. Additionally, eight student-athletes were named to the NSIC Academic All-Conference team, with five of those individuals being named to the Academic Team of Excellence. Fish herself was announced as a Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association (MGBCA) Hall of Fame inductee earlier this month.Â
