February 21, 1996Release # S052
Contact: Adam Levin
Sports Information Director
Phone #: (207) 786-6411


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Accolades Continue to Flow for Bates Women's Basketball

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates College women's basketball team continues to earn high praise for a record-setting season. Junior center Sarah Bonkovsky of Harvard, Mass., was named New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Week for the second time this season. Bonkovsky was also named to the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District team. Meanwhile, first-year forward Amy "A.T." Taylor of Orono earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors for the second time in three weeks.

Bonkovsky, who previously earned NESCAC honors for the week of Jan. 7, was also named to the ECAC honor roll for the second time this season. In the Bobcats' wins over New England College (87-66), Tufts (72-60) and Connecticut College (67-51), Bonkovsky averaged 19.7 points and 10 rebounds per game. She also had six assists, five blocks and four steals on the week. She scored 20 points and collected 13 rebounds against New England, had 16 points and nine boards at Tufts and collected 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in a home win over Connecticut College.

Including the Bobcats' 65-56 win over Colby Jan. 19, Bonkovsky averaged 19.1 points and 10.8 rebounds over the 24-game regular season. With 16 points against Colby, she broke the Bates mark for points in a season, collecting 458. Earlier in the season, in a win over Colby-Sawyer College, she set the school record for points in a game with 37. By earning Academic All-District mention from the College Sports Information Directors of America, Bonkovsky will try to become the first female athlete from Bates to garner Academic All-America honors. She is a biology major with a 3.7 GPA who has been named to the dean's list in all five of her semesters at Bates.

Taylor also had a solid week, averaging 17.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. She had 13 points and seven boards at New England College, 23 points and six rebounds at Tufts and 16 points with six boards against Connecticut College. She shot 9-for-9 from the free-throw line during the week and also had 10 steals. For the season, she trails only Bonkovsky, averaging 18.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Her 47 3-pointers this season set a Bates school mark.

Coach Jim Murphy's team finished the regular season with a 17-7 record, the most wins ever by a Bates women's team, surpassing the 1988-89 team's 16-10 mark. They have shattered the school marks for points scored (1,802), field goals made (706), 3-point shots made and attempted (89-326), assists (424) and steals (399) in a season. Murphy hopes that this effort will also enable them to match the 1988-89 team's feat of reaching the ECAC playoffs, the only other women's basketball team in Bates history to do so.

Bonkovsky is a 1993 graduate of The Bromfeld School. She is the daughter of Herbert and Marilyn Bonkovsky, 80 Slough Road, Harvard.

Taylor is a 1995 graduate of Orono High School. She is the daughter of Thomas and Katherine White Taylor of 38 Westwood Drive, Orono.

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