Centerville’s McMahon named Big Ten Freshman of the Year

Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon was named Big Ten Women’s Basketball Freshman of the Year and second-team All-Big Ten on Tuesday.

The Centerville graduate was a heavy favorite for the first-year player award after being named the freshman of the week a record-tying six times and proved to be a major contributor for the Buckeyes from the start of the season.

She scored 10 points in her college debut, a season-opening win over Tennessee, and finished 18th in the conference in scoring at 14 points per game.

She scored in double figures 19 times and reached at least 20 points 11 times.

The 6-foot guard also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game in the regular season for the 23-6 Buckeyes, who finished fourth in the Big Ten at 12-6.

McMahon, who was also picked for the All-Freshman Team, is the 10th Ohio State player to be named women’s basketball freshman of the year but the first since Kelsey Mitchell in 2015.

Joining McMahon on the all-conference second team was fellow guard Taylor Thierry while senior guard Taylor Mikesell made the first team.

Thierry also made the all-defense team while Rikki Harris and Rebeka Mikulasikova received honorable mention.

Ohio State earned the fourth seed in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament and will play Friday afternoon against Michigan, Minnesota or Penn State on Big Ten Network.

This year’s tournament is being held in Minneapolis.

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