Thomas More University senior guard Madison Temple has been named the DIII Honda Athlete of the Year finalist for women’s basketball, as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of The Collegiate Women Sports Awards presented by Honda.
Temple is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DIII Honda Athlete of the Year. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of The CWSA program, now in its 43rd year.
Temple has made a clean sweep of the top Division III national awards as she was named the Jostens Trophy winner and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division III Player of the Year and WBCA All-American along with being named Google Cloud Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
She led Thomas More in scoring (23.5 point per game), rebounds (7.7 per game), assists (187) and steals (92) while helping the Saints to the 2019 NCAA Division III national title and a 33-0 record. She was also third on the team in blocked shots with 23. Temple made 186 free throws, which is a single-season record at Thomas More, while her 187 assists and 776 points are second in Thomas More single-season records. Her 254 rebounds are third most in a single-season.
Temple finished her career as the school’s all-time leader in scoring (2,184), assists (585), made field goals (812) and made free throws (818), while finishing third in rebounding (818).
“This is a tremendous honor for Madison and our women’s basketball program,” said head coach Jeff Hans. “Madison was very important to our success this season and during her career. Madison’s unselfishness and ability to score really stood out, but the most impressive thing is how she was a complete player in leading us in rebounds and assists. Madison is very deserving of this accomplishment and I would like to thank Honda for all they do to promote women’s athletics.”
All Honda Sports nominees from DIII and DII become a finalist for the prestigious 2018 Honda Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in a live telecast on CBS Sports on June 24 in downtown Los Angeles. The Honda Sports nominees are recognized in 11 DIII and DII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.
The Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 43 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.1 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.
(From Thomas More and The Collegiate Women Sports Awards)