Senior Deborah Hoekstra picked up three awards at the 2014-15 Bowling Green State University Women's Basketball Awards Banquet, which was held in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom of the Bowen Thompson Student Union Sunday night (April 19).
Hoekstra was named the team's Player of the Year in a vote of team members, and also shared the team's Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award as well as the Fran and Marty Voll Senior Achievement Award.  Jasmine Matthews & Deborah Hoekstra Several other team members earned awards as well. Redshirt junior Erica Donovan was the winner of the Power Player of the Year award, while senior Jasmine Matthews was a co-recipient of the Fran and Marty Voll Senior Achievement Award along with Hoekstra.
Junior Miriam Justinger was named the Playmaker of the Year, while freshman Rachel Myers was chosen as the Impact Player of the Year. Freshman Haley Puk was named the team's Most Improved Player, and sophomore Abby Siefker joined Hoekstra in receiving the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
Senior Erica Fullenkamp received the Falcon Award, which is given to the person or persons who embody qualities such as dedication, commitment, effort and being the ultimate team player.
Hoekstra was a recipient of the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the third consecutive season. She has a perfect 4.000 cumulative grade-point average as an applied health science major with a minor in business. Siefker is majoring in biology (pre-dentistry) with minors in chemistry, general sciences and entrepreneurship, and also has a perfect 4.000 cumulative GPA.
Hoekstra, a native of East Lansing, Mich. (East Lansing H.S.), played in all 30 games in 2014-15, starting the last 24. An honorable-mention selection to the All-Mid-American Conference Team, she led the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding, with 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. She made a team-high 51 three-point field goals, and she led the MAC and ranked ninth in the entire nation in free-throw percentage, shooting 90.1 percent from the stripe. Hoekstra averaged 12.2 ppg and 8.8 rpg in MAC games only, tying for 12th in the league in scoring and fourth in rebounding. She was named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team, BGSU's first such honoree in four years. Hoekstra made a total of 105 three-point field goals in her career, including 92 over her final two seasons. She scored 589 points in those two years, en route to 672 total points as a Falcon.
Matthews, a native of Matteson, Ill. (Marian Catholic H.S.), played in 15 games in her senior season, starting the first six. She averaged 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per game, but played in just nine of BGSU's final 24 games of the year due to injury. Matthews averaged 22.5 minutes per game over the first six games of the year, then averaged only 4.0 minutes per contest in her last nine games played. Matthews made a total of 117 three-pointers in her career, including 51 as a freshman and 45 as a junior.  Erica Fullenkamp Fullenkamp, who hails from Minster, Ohio (Minster H.S.), joined the women's basketball team on Jan. 8, 2015, after a successful four-year career on the BGSU volleyball team. She did not see action in the first game after she joined the team, but played in each of the final 16 contests. Fullenkamp, who made her BGSU hoops debut against Northern Illinois at the Stroh Center on Jan. 14, averaged 0.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.9 minutes per game. A two-time Academic All-MAC selection in volleyball, she was named to the Capital One Academic All-District Second Team and also was named a MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete in the first year of that award's existence. Fullenkamp helped the volleyball Falcons to a MAC Tournament title and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Championships during her sophomore year of 2012. She has a perfect 4.000 cumulative GPA through the fall semester at BGSU.
Donovan, a native of San Antonio, Texas (John Jay H.S.), started each of the first eight games of the season. She was averaging 15.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, leading the team in both categories, before suffering an injury in the Illinois State game on Dec. 19 and missing the remainder of the season. Donovan scored in double digits in each of her last seven games, including three games of 20 or more points and three double-doubles. She was named to the Preseason All-MAC Team in 2014-15 after earning All-MAC Team honorable mention in '13-14, her first playing season with the Falcons.
Justinger, from Sylvania, Ohio (Northview H.S.), was one of just two players to start all 30 games in 2014-15. She was second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 10.3 points and 5.3 boards per contest. She averaged a team-high 2.1 assists per outing, and also paced the Brown and Orange in minutes played, with 32.5 per game, and steals, with 1.2 per contest. Justinger has career totals of 781 points, 346 rebounds, 201 assists and 101 steals in her first three years with the Falcons.
Siefker, a native of Ottoville, Ohio (Ottoville H.S.), started each of the Falcons' first 12 games before missing the remainder of the season due to injury. She averaged 5.4 points per game, and was second on the team in rebounding at the time of the injury, with 6.3 boards per contest. Siefker led the Falcons with 1.0 blocked shots per game at that time as well, blocking 12 shots in those 12 contests. Siefker had 65 points, 75 rebounds and those 12 blocks in 2014-15, after scoring 54 points, grabbing 53 boards and blocking three shots during her freshman year.
Myers, who hails from Findlay, Ohio (Liberty-Benton H.S.), was one of the top freshmen in the MAC in 2014-15. She played in all 30 games, making 18 starts, in her first season in BG. Myers averaged 8.4 points per game, good for third on the team, along with 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest. She was second on the team with 45 three-point field goals made, and shot 35.2% from long range. Myers was 53-of-60 (88.3%) from the foul line, and led the entire MAC in free-throw percentage in league games, with a 92.7% success rate (38-of-41). She averaged 10.1 ppg in MAC games only, good for third among all league freshmen.
Puk, a native of Waterloo, Iowa (Waterloo West H.S.), played in all 30 games in her initial season at BGSU, making 11 starts. She averaged 5.2 points per game, good for fifth on the team, along with 2.9 rebounds per contest. Puk was fourth on the Falcons in steals on the year. She made at least one three-pointer in each of the last seven games of the year, shooting better than 44% (12-of-27) from long distance in that time. Puk averaged 7.0 ppg in those seven games.
In addition to the presentation of awards on Sunday night, the crowd was treated to dinner and a season highlight video. Siefker delivered the invocation, and Myers, Puk, fellow freshman Sarah Baer and redshirt freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick received letter jackets after officially becoming BGSU first-year letterwinners. The team's seniors – Fullenkamp, Hoekstra, Matthews and student manager Nick Fine – each had the opportunity to speak, sharing their thoughts and memories on their time at BGSU.
The 2014-15 Falcons went 9-21 overall under head coach Jennifer Roos. Four players on the 12-woman preseason roster suffered season- or career-ending injuries, and a fifth (Matthews) missed the bulk of the conference schedule due to injury as well. Nevertheless, the team's fourth-year seniors were a part of 87 wins during their time at BGSU. That Falcons had an overall mark of 87-44 and a MAC regular-season record of 44-24, an average of 21.8 overall wins and 11 conference victories per year, during that time, and BG made three national postseason appearances.
Of the 10 non-seniors on the 2014-15 roster, eight have started at least five games in their BGSU career, with six of those eight starting more than 10 games as a Falcon. That group has a combined total of 203 starts in the Brown and Orange.
2014-15 BGSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS * Player of the Year: Deborah Hoekstra (Sponsored by Dan Long/Long's Cleaners)
