BAY CITY, Mich. – After the best defensive season in Roosevelt history, Marie Outlay has been named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Friday.
The junior from Sun Prairie, Wis. was a menace on the defensive end, ranking second in Division II in steals with 115 and steals per game with 4.11. She also led the GLIAC with nearly 1.5 blocks per game this season, including three in the Lakers' loss Wednesday in the GLIAC Quarterfinals. In addition, Outlay finished sixth in the GLIAC in rebounding with a career-best 6.8 boards per game.
It is the second time in three seasons with the Lakers that Outlay was named the league defensive player of the year after doing so as a freshman in the CCAC. Always matched up against the opposition's best player, Outlay led the GLIAC in minutes played at more than 35 minutes per game.
"Marie has been relentless for us on the defensive end all season long from deflections, to rebounds, steals, blocks - you name it," Roosevelt head coach Deon Thomas said. "This is her second Defensive Player of the Year in her time here at Roosevelt and we are so proud of her continued success on the defensive end. We are excited for Marie to come back next season and cement her legacy as the best defensive player in Roosevelt Women's Basketball history."
Outlay set several defensive records this season for the Lakers, including shattering the Roosevelt career record for steals. Her 115 thefts were a new single-season record, destroying the records she set as a freshman then again as a sophomore. She also had 11 steals on Jan. 31 against Saginaw Valley State to set a new single-game record in the same game she broke the career record.
In addition to her defensive accolades, which includes a place on the GLIAC All-Defensive Team, Outlay was named second-team All-GLIAC performer. She averaged a career high 12.1 points per game and finished with four double-doubles this season. After shooting nearly 22 percent from 3-point range in her first two seasons, Outlay improved this year to better than 32 percent from behind the arc.
"This offseason I challenged Marie to work more on being a scorer and becoming a better 2-way player," Thomas said. "She averaged her career best of 12.1 points per game and earned herself 2nd Team All-Conference by putting in the extra work and rising to that challenge."
