All-time leading scorer nets high honors from Omaha World-Herald
SEWARD, Neb. – The all-time leading scorer in the history of Concordia women’s basketball has swept athlete of the year honors from Nebraska’s major newspapers. On Thursday Bailey Morris garnered the distinction of Midlands College Women’s Athlete of the Year from the Omaha World-Herald. The previous week she was named the Lincoln Journal Star State College Women’s Athlete of the Year.
“My freshman year, if someone would have come up to me and said ‘you guys are going to play for the national championship, you’re going to score 2,000 points, you’re going to be national player of the year, all that stuff, I would have said ‘you’re nuts,’” Morris told the Omaha World-Herald. “I would have never thought that. Not in a million years. I talk to my parents about it and it still seems crazy to me.”
Morris ended her career with 2,054 points over 136 career games. On program career lists, Morris also ranks second in steals (394) and fourth in assists (502). The 5-foot-4 point guard averaged 18.5 points, 5.17 assists and 3.78 steals per game as a senior. Her 45 points on Feb. 15, 2014, in a win over Northwestern remain a program record for the highest individual single-game scoring output.
The Clay Center, Neb., native joins Stacey Miller as the only two Bulldogs to ever be named Midlands College Women’s Athlete of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald. Miller received the honor in 1998.
The latest award adds to an impressive list of 2015 accolades for Morris, whose senior season produced NAIA Division II National Player of the Year and GPAC Player of the Year recognition.
Morris career achievements
- School record for career scoring (2,054 points) and single-game scoring (45 points)
- 2014-15 NAIA Division II national player of the year
- 2015 Omaha World-Herald Midlands College Women’s Athlete of the Year
- 2015 Lincoln Journal Star State College Women’s Athlete of the Year
- Two-time GPAC player of the year
- Two-time first team NAIA All-American
- 2014-15 Concordia Senior Female Athlete of the Year
- Two-time Omaha World-Herald NAIA All-Nebraska honorary captain
- 2015 national tournament first team all-tournament
- Eight-time GPAC player of the week
- 2014-15 Capital One academic all-district
- Led Concordia to four-year record of 119-21, first-ever national title game appearance, two total national semifinal trips, four-straight national tournament berths, two GPAC regular-season titles and two GPAC tournament trophies
Said head women’s basketball coach Drew Olson, “Bailey is the best player in our program's history. Her individual and team accomplishments prove that. What she did was remarkable. Bailey's game evolved so much in different ways. Her freshman year was a great start – being an impact player off the bench on a final four team. Her sophomore and some of her junior year showed her sacrifice for the team by coming off the bench even though she was one of our best players. Then when Kristen Conahan went down (ACL injury), Bailey changed her game again, midseason, to be a dominant scorer. She put the team on her shoulders and together they found a way to win a GPAC championship. Then she evolved again her senior year to balance her scoring with getting others involved. She always did what we asked of her and did everything for the team. It's impressive to look back at the change from freshman year to senior year. She is a perfect example of work ethic and determination resulting in reaching her potential.”