James Madison redshirt-senior center Lauren Okafor is the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s basketball.
Recipients are selected by a vote of the sports information directors at each CAA school. Nominees must be a starter or important reserve on their team with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25.
Okafor is a psychology major in the pre-med program at JMU. She earned the 2015 Dean Ehlers Leadership Award for her efforts both on and off the court and in the community in addition to collecting the 2014 Arthur Ashe Female Sports Scholar Award. This season, she received CAA All-Academic honors and JMU Athletic Director Scholar-Athlete honors while making the JMU President’s List in the fall.
On the court, Okafor led the conference in rebounding (9.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.531) during her senior campaign. She added 12.4 points per game and 1.7 blocks per contest on her way to earning All-CAA First Team, CAA All-Defensive Team and CAA All-Tournament Team accolades.
During the 2014-15 season, Okafor pulled down 323 rebounds, ranking fifth in JMU history, and blocked 57 shots, the second most in a single season at JMU. She finished her career third in all-time blocked shots (156) and 12th in all-time rebounds (761).
The Dukes (29-4) made their second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season after winning both the CAA Regular-Season and Tournament Championships. They set a school record for regular-season victories with 26 and tied a school record with 29 overall wins.
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Chris Graham
