Press Release :: Women's Basketball Coaches Association

"The WBCA is proud to present Megan Silva with the 2006 State Farm/WBCA NCAA Division III Player of the Year Award," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "She has undeniably been a stand-out this season among so many great student-athletes and we applaud her hard work."

Throughout her four years of playing for the Yellow Jackets she averaged 19.6 points, 5.8 assists, 3.7 steals and 4.6 rebounds. Silva finished out her senior season with 2,371 points, 446 assists and 446 steals, totals that record higher than any male or female player in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) history. She also broke the ODAC single game free throw percentage hitting 16 of 16 from the line as well as tying the ODAC record for assists in a single game with 15 this year. During the ODAC Tournament this year she broke the record for points, scoring 76 in three games. In addition, Silva totaled 554 rebounds and started every game of her career.

Silva is a three-time ODAC Player of the Year, four-time First Team All-Conference, three-time ODAC Tournament MVP, two-time All-American, three-time First Team All- State, All-South Region and State Player of the Year, ODAC Freshman of the Year in 2003 and 2005 ODAC Women's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year.

During this season she was named to the D3hoops.com national Team of the Week three times, ODAC Player of the Week two times and nationally she ranked as the leading scorer in NCAA Division III. Silva also recently received the Jostens Trophy that is presented annually to one male and one female Division III basketball player for excellence on the court, in the classroom and for their community service efforts.

"Congratulations to Megan Silva on being selected the State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year," said Mark D. Gibson, Assistant Vice President of Advertising at State Farm. "This is a wonderful honor for such an outstanding student-athlete and we concur with Beth, and look forward to seeing Megan fulfill the rest of her basketball dreams."

The State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year Award is selected by the nine-member WBCA Player of the Year Committee, which consists of one WBCA-member coach from each of the eight WBCA Division III Regions and the committee chair.

With being selected as the State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year for NCAA Division III, Silva will have the opportunity to participate in the WBCA All-Star Challenge game on April 1 at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena following the WBCA High School All-America Game presented by Nike that tips off at 4:30 p.m. (ET).

Silva will also be formally presented her award at the WBCA Awards Luncheon presented by State Farm and Jostens on Sunday, April 2 at 12:30 p.m. (ET) in the Hynes Convention Center Ballroom. The State Farm/WBCA Player of the Year presentation is part of the 2006 WBCA National Convention held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women's Final Four® in Boston, Mass. This year the WBCA celebrates its Silver Anniversary, marking 25 years of existence.

State Farm ® insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 72,000 employees serve nearly 73 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada. StateFarm also offers financial services products through State Farm Bank ®. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 21 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca.

Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game as an amateur sport for women and girls. For additional information about the WBCA, please visit WBCA.org.