HARRIS-STOWE STATE UNIVERSITY COMPLETES CINDERELLA RUN TO AMC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP; HORNETS RECEIVE BID TO NAIA DIVISION I NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

(Lebanon, Ill., March 3) – No. 4 seed Harris-Stowe State University captured the 2007 American Midwest Conference Women's Basketball Tournament championship in convincing fashion with a 78-58 victory over No. 2 seed Columbia College in the title game at Columbia, Mo. Just a year after posting an 0-14 season in AMC play, the Lady Hornets won eight league games and knocked off the top two seeds in the 2007 conference tournament to earn their first-ever conference basketball title.

With its victory, Harris-Stowe receives the conference's automatic bid to the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship in Jackson, Tenn. The 32-team, single-elimination event will be held March 14-20 at Oman Arena in downtown Jackson.

The AMC All-Conference squad and post-season award winners were announced shortly after the tournament championship game. In a vote of the league's coaches, Amber Lewellen of Columbia College was selected as the 2006-07 AMC Player of the Year as well as the Newcomer of the Year. Lewellen, a 5-9 junior guard from Kirksville, Mo., averaged 18.9 points and 5.6 rebounds during the regular season. She shot 49 percent from the field and nearly 74 percent from the free throw line while collecting 68 steals. Lewellen ranked in the AMC top five in scoring, field goal percentage and steals.

Aubrey Parsons of Missouri Baptist University was named the 2006-07 AMC Freshman of the Year. Parsons, a 5-7 guard from Sterling, Ill., collected 14 points per game on the year, which increased to 19 points per contest in AMC play. Parsons had two outings of 35 points or better in league games in her rookie season. She shot 35.4 percent from the field with 50 three-point field goals, and was a 70-percent shooter from the foul line.

For guiding his team to a six-game improvement in the AMC standings this season, Roy Gilmore from the University of Illinois at Springfield was chosen as the 2006-07 AMC Coach of the Year. In his second season at UIS, Gilmore led the Prairie Stars to a 9-5 record in conference play and a third-place finish in the AMC standings. The University of Illinois at Springfield had an overall record of 15-17 this season.

A complete list of the 10-member AMC All-Conference team, the honorable mention squad and the academic all-conference team, is listed below. Members of the AMC Academic All-Conference team have earned at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

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