Junior guard Emily Buck of the Oglethorpe women's basketball team earned the Division III free throw shooting title with a 92.0 percent mark after statistics were finalized earlier this week upon completion of the NCAA Division III basketball championships. She beat out Bluffton's Taylor Whitaker, who finished at 91.6 percent.
The 92.0 percent mark puts Buck in select company. She becomes the first member of an Oglethorpe women's basketball team to win a national individual statistical title. In addition, she now sits in a tie for 13th in the all-time Division III single-season record book. The mark also sets the single-season SAA and Oglethorpe records, beating out Sewanee's Paige Lowe (86.0 percent in 2013-14) for the SAA mark and Stormy Petrel great Anna Findley (89.1 percent in 2008-09) for the Oglethorpe one.
"It is a great feeling as a coach to have confidence in your leader to be able to close games out at the charity stripe," said Head Coach Alex Richey. "Leading the country in free throw shooting is attributed to hard work and it would be hard to find another player in the country that has worked as hard as Emily Buck this past year. She has one year left in an Oglethorpe jersey and I am expecting her to continue to improve and lead us to even more wins next year as a senior."
Buck joins sophomore forward Ciaira Hughes in winning an individual statistical title. Hughes took the SAA rebounding title with an average of 11.3 per game. That mark beat out Hendrix's Sara Dyslin (10.5 per game) for the No. 1 spot. She also now holds the Oglethorpe single-season record in both rebounding average and total rebounds (293). Both of those marks eclipse Oglethorpe Hall of Famer Heather Francoeur's previous records of 10.1 rebounds per game and 241 total rebounds set in 2000-01. In addition, Hughes finished first in the SAA in double-doubles (14) and offensive rebounding average (4.0 per game).
"Both Ciaira and Emily had special seasons for us this year as shown by their statistics," Richey continued. "There have been some great players in the Oglethorpe women's program and if they continue to hone their skills and win some more games, these two will be considered two of the best players to ever put on the uniform."
Buck took All-SAA Second Team accolades for her excellent work over the course of the season while Hughes garnered D3hoops.com All-South Region Third Team honors as well as earning a spot on the All-SAA First Team.