PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team held its annual banquet on campus Wednesday evening, gathering to celebrate another successful year to the Red and Blue and send off it's historic senior class. 

After dedicating the newly minted walls inside the concourse of The Palestra, honoring the 2014, 2016 and 2017 Ivy League championship teams from Penn, the team, staff, parents, alumni and friends listened to a number of speeches from the current Quakers. A representative of each class gave insight into the this year's season and team, before the four-woman senior class of Beth Brzozowski, Michelle Nwokedi, Anna Ross and Lauren Whitlatch gave their parting goodbyes and thank you's. 

In the midst of the night was yearly awards, presented by the Penn coaching staff.

Junior Ashley Russell won both the "Miss Intangible" team award, while also earning the Epton-Tarr Prize, recognizing the quintessential team player. Russell had a breakout year in 2017-18, making 29 starts and finishing the season with an average of 7.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest. Russell notched a career-high 21 points late in the season at Dartmouth, while polishing her range from start to finish, ending with a 3-point shooting percentage of 37 percent. Known for all-out hustle, Russell was key for the Red and Blue in loose ball and rebound situations, posting a season-best nine rebound effort at Temple to clinch the Big 5 Championship for Penn. 

Senior captain Lauren Whitlatch collected the Team Leader award, as well as the Harshberger-Johnson-Bendel Prize, recognizing leadership, sportsmanship, and loyalty. In her comeback season after suffering a season-ending ACL tear her junior year, Whitlatch was a lethal weapon from deep, finishing with 75 3-pointers on the year, ranking second-most of any single season mark in program history. For her career, Whitlatch totaled 166 made three's, ranking third all-time. Whitlatch played and started in all 31 games for the Quakers this season, averaging 8.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. 

Freshman Michae Jones received the Most Improved team award, earning the accolade from her teammates. Jones played in 12 games for the Red and Blue, and grew exponentially not only on the court, but off the court as well. Jones' first career points came at NJIT, while the rookie notched her first career 3-pointer in a win over Gwynedd Mercy.

Senior do-it-all player Michelle Nwokedi earned Defensive Player of the Year, after finishing with 72 blocks on the year and 308 for her career, ranking second all-time in both program and Ivy League history. Nwokedi put an exclamation mark on her final season with the Red and Blue, becoming the first player in Ivy League history to boast over 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 300 blocks in a career. Her name is littered throughout the Penn record books, sitting fifth all-time in points (1,517), second in rebounds (1,048), third in double-doubles (39), and fifth in made free throws (356). Nwokedi was named first-team All-Ivy and first-team Big 5 this season.

Fellow senior Anna Ross was given the Impact Player of the Year award by the Quakers, also boasting a historic season by setting the new program record for both career (491) and single-season (151) assists. Ross was an immediate weapon for the Red and Blue, earning the program record for career starts, having played and started all 120 possible games in her time with the Quakers. Known as a distributor, Ross proved important in her ability to score when needed, boasting 119 made 3-pointers in her career and finishing just shy of 1,000 points. Her career-high of 10 assists came this season vs. Rhode Island, as she became the first at Penn since 2007 to post a double-double on points/assists.

As a unit, the 2018 senior class finished with 89 wins, tied with last season's class for the most in a four-year span in program history. The owned the first two Big 5 Championships in Penn history to their name, in addition to two Ivy League championships and the inaugural Ivy League Tournament championship. They become just the third senior class in program history to advance to postseason play all four years and the fourth senior class to finish in the top-two of the Ivy League all four years. 

List of Award Winners
Miss Intangible: Ashley Russell
Defensive Player of the Year: Michelle Nwokedi
Most Improved: Michae Jones
Team Leader: Lauren Whitlatch
Impact Player of the Year: Anna Ross

Harshberger-Johnson-Brendel Prize (Leadership, Sportsmanship, Loyalty): Lauren Whitlatch
Epton-Tarr Prize (Quintessential Team Player): Ashley Russell
 

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