Hancher Nets All-NCAC Honors for Third-Straight Year, This Time Earning First-Team Laurels

Senior Lauren Hancher turned in one of the best individual careers in the history of The College of Wooster women's basketball program, and on Wednesday the dual-sport standout earned a first-team all-North Coast Athletic Conference certificate for her standout play on the hardwood this year, as announced by the conference office.

Hancher currently leads the conference with 18.0 points per game, a total that ranks sixth in the program annals. The senior was even more impressive in conference play, averaging a league-best 19.9 points, including surpassing 20 points in half (eight) of the NCAC contests.

Additionally, Hancher was a lights-out 66-for-76 (.868) at the free throw line this year, with her percentage currently leading the NCAC, and standing as the second-highest in a single season for the women's program.

Hancher finished her career third in program history in scoring (1,415 points), second in field goals made (582), and seventh in free throws made (236).

A two-time NCAC Player-of-the-Week this year, Hancher became the only player in program history to appear three times on the top-10 list for most field goal makes in a season. In addition, she is one of four in program history with multiple top-10 single-season point hauls, and is one of two players in program history with multiple 35-point games. In fact, Hancher holds the single-game program record for scoring (40 against Hiram College last year), and also shares the mark for the second-highest scoring game (38 against Ohio Wesleyan this year).

The all-conference certificate marked Hancher's third on the hardwood, the first by a Fighting Scot since Jess Wingen (2011-13), while her first-team mention was the program's first since Kaitlin Krister and Kym Wenz both earned first-team honors during the 2009-10 season. Overall, the citation is Hancher's seventh, having earned four on the soccer pitch, including first-team honors this past fall.

Hancher is the first student-athlete at Wooster to earn first-team all-conference certificates in two different sports, or a first-team honor in one and an individual conference championship in another (swimming & diving, track & field), in the same school year since KateLynn Riley. Riley was a first-team all-conference honoree during the 2008 volleyball season, then won the 55- and 100-meter hurdles at the 2009 indoor and outdoor NCAC Track & Field Championships respectively.

Hancher also recently earned an honorable mention plaque from the Haier Achievement Award, an honor combining academics, athletics, community service, and extracurricular activity. She was one of 20 student-athletes across all divisions to be recognized by Haier, and was one of two Div. III women's basketball student-athletes honored.