Wildcats Leader
03/15/07
By ADAM FISHER, Chronicle
Tribune
acfisher@marion.gannett.com
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Even at the pinnacle of her
career, Liz Howerth remained a team player.
Howerth had a storybook ending to her already stellar career Tuesday. She won Most Valuable Player honors in the NAIA Division II national tournament as her Indiana Wesleyan University team won the school's first championship.
She couldn't have written a better ending, Howerth admits. Yet as she prepares to ride off into the sunset as IWU's most decorated athlete, Howerth says she couldn't have accomplished any of it alone.
"In my individual awards, this is the top one," Howerth said of her MVP award. "What it means is that we are 38-0, and we've done it together. The MVP means I was a leader on this team in our last game."
Her teammates say that's just Liz.
No matter how many accolades or awards she wins, they say, she remains humble and team-oriented. While Howerth is a leader on the court, her fellow Wildcats say her role as their spiritual foundation is more important.
Howerth started for the Wildcats all four years and ends her career as the school's all-time leading scorer. After Tuesday's championship game, she was named to the All-NAIA first team for the third straight year. Howerth is also second all-time at IWU in rebounds and fourth in assists.
More important to the 5-foot-11 forward from Athens, Ohio, however, are the Wildcats' team records. With a 38-0 record, IWU became the first Division II team to finish undefeated. The Wildcats also set a new mark for the most victories in a season.
"She is team first, no exception," senior teammate Stephanie Culp said. "She does what's needed as a team. She doesn't care what her statistics are. She doesn't care about all the accomplishments. She wants to win for this team."
Howerth leads by example. Wildcats coach Steve Brooks said she's not a vocal leader, but the rest of the team follows her because they respect her.
Led by Howerth, this year's class of five seniors have led the Wildcats to unprecedented success. The group won three Mid-Central Conference championships and has gone 128-18 in the past four years. IWU has been to the national tournament each of those years after making the field just once before Howerth's freshman season.
With 25 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's championship game, Howerth became the fourth leading scorer and 10th leading rebounder in the tournament's 16-year history.
"I've never coached anybody like her," Brooks said. "She's done everything in a really first-class manner. She's everything that Indiana Wesleyan would want in a student."
Howerth said she isn't sure what her legacy at IWU will be, but she hopes people remember her as someone who made her teammates better. Her own memories, though, won't have anything to do with basketball.
Instead, she'll look back on how much she has grown as a person and in her spirituality in four years at Indiana Wesleyan. The bond she now shares with 14 other teammates, Howerth said, is the best part of hoisting the championship trophy.
"This has been an amazing year," Howerth said. "We ended on the last possible game we could end it on. We ended with a win. For the seniors to win this our last year, it's just been an amazing opportunity and experience for all of us."
acfisher@marion.gannett.com
Howerth had a storybook ending to her already stellar career Tuesday. She won Most Valuable Player honors in the NAIA Division II national tournament as her Indiana Wesleyan University team won the school's first championship.
She couldn't have written a better ending, Howerth admits. Yet as she prepares to ride off into the sunset as IWU's most decorated athlete, Howerth says she couldn't have accomplished any of it alone.
"In my individual awards, this is the top one," Howerth said of her MVP award. "What it means is that we are 38-0, and we've done it together. The MVP means I was a leader on this team in our last game."
Her teammates say that's just Liz.
No matter how many accolades or awards she wins, they say, she remains humble and team-oriented. While Howerth is a leader on the court, her fellow Wildcats say her role as their spiritual foundation is more important.
Howerth started for the Wildcats all four years and ends her career as the school's all-time leading scorer. After Tuesday's championship game, she was named to the All-NAIA first team for the third straight year. Howerth is also second all-time at IWU in rebounds and fourth in assists.
More important to the 5-foot-11 forward from Athens, Ohio, however, are the Wildcats' team records. With a 38-0 record, IWU became the first Division II team to finish undefeated. The Wildcats also set a new mark for the most victories in a season.
"She is team first, no exception," senior teammate Stephanie Culp said. "She does what's needed as a team. She doesn't care what her statistics are. She doesn't care about all the accomplishments. She wants to win for this team."
Howerth leads by example. Wildcats coach Steve Brooks said she's not a vocal leader, but the rest of the team follows her because they respect her.
Led by Howerth, this year's class of five seniors have led the Wildcats to unprecedented success. The group won three Mid-Central Conference championships and has gone 128-18 in the past four years. IWU has been to the national tournament each of those years after making the field just once before Howerth's freshman season.
With 25 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's championship game, Howerth became the fourth leading scorer and 10th leading rebounder in the tournament's 16-year history.
"I've never coached anybody like her," Brooks said. "She's done everything in a really first-class manner. She's everything that Indiana Wesleyan would want in a student."
Howerth said she isn't sure what her legacy at IWU will be, but she hopes people remember her as someone who made her teammates better. Her own memories, though, won't have anything to do with basketball.
Instead, she'll look back on how much she has grown as a person and in her spirituality in four years at Indiana Wesleyan. The bond she now shares with 14 other teammates, Howerth said, is the best part of hoisting the championship trophy.
"This has been an amazing year," Howerth said. "We ended on the last possible game we could end it on. We ended with a win. For the seniors to win this our last year, it's just been an amazing opportunity and experience for all of us."