ATLANTA, Ga.- Ave Maria University women's basketball coach Alexander Moorehead was honored as the NAIA Region 6 Coach of the Year, as well as a finalist for NAIA National Coach of the Year, as announced by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Monday morning.

The coach who receives the most votes in each region - six in total for the NAIA - is the WBCA Regional Coach of the Year in that region and automatically becomes a finalist for the Pat Summitt Trophy. 

Moorehead was one of six finalists for the NAIA edition of the Pat Summitt Trophy, named for the late legendary University of Tennessee coach and awarded annually to the national coaches of the year in each of the WBCA's six membership divisions. The award winner was Rocky Mountain College's Wes Keller. 

"The WBCA is proud to announce Wes Keller as the 2022 recipient of the Pat Summitt Trophy presented to the WBCA NAIA National Coach of the Year," said WBCA Executive Director Danielle M. Donehew. "We also congratulate the other head coaches who were selected by their peers as finalists for this prestigious award.

The WBCA NAIA National Coach of the Year is selected by a committee of coaches. Joining Moorehead and Keller as finalists were Jessie Biggs (Indiana Tech), Jason Christensen (Dakota Wesleyan), Ginger Colvin (Campbellsville) and Taylor Possail (Columbia).

In his first season at Ave Maria, Moorehead guided a team that primarily started five freshmen, and returned just three sizable contributors from a team that won eight games in 2020-21. The Gyrenes proceeded to win 16 games, doubling the win total from 2021, and doubled the team's conference winning percentage from .250 (5-15) to .500 (8-8). The season to date was capped by AMU's first win in the conference tournament since 2015, a 48-44 triumph over Keiser in the Sun quarterfinals.

Ave Maria continued to improve as a team as the year went on, defeating three of the other five teams in The Sun Conference Tournament at least once. Beginning with a win over Thomas on January 29, the Gyrenes won seven of their last nine games, including wins over Edward Waters, Florida Memorial, St. Thomas, Warner, and Keiser. One of the Gyrenes' freshmen, Lavariah Armstead, was named First Team All-Sun Conference, as well.

The Gyrenes' 2021-22 season showcased a remarkable turnaround from 2020-21, and the freshman nucleus of first team All-Conference guard Lavariah Armstead, conference All-Tournament team selection Gianna Santacroce, Casey Humphrey, Colleen Shanahan, and Emily Rapacz form a group that will be a force in the league going forward.