Quebec City, QC – Fifth year guard Korissa Williams and head coach Chantal Vallée have captured CIS women's basketball awards, as announced at the major awards banquet on Wednesday night.
 
Williams was honoured as the CIS Defensive Player of the Year, while Vallée captured her second consecutive CIS Coach of the Year Award.
 
The Windsor, ON native keeps the defensive MVP trophy in the Lancers family for the fourth straight year as former teammate Miah Marie Langlois had been awarded the honour each of the past three campaigns.
 
She had an outstanding fifth and final season as she helped lead the Blue and Gold to their seventh straight OUA West division title thanks to a CIS-best 19-1 record and the No. 1 spot in each of the 13 national weekly polls. The anchor of the nation's fourth-ranked defence (53.2 points per game), the 5-foot-9 business student was second in the country in steals (64) and tied for the team lead in rebounding (7.0 per game) while being responsible for defending the opponents' top guard. In addition to her defensive talents, she averaged a team-best 19.3 points per contest - good for third in CIS - and also led the Lancers in assists per game (4.7) en route to her first selection as a first-team all-Canadian. 
 
Williams, who represented Canada at the 2011 world under-19 championship, has helped Windsor claim the CIS title in each of her first four seasons with the team, including in 2013 when she was named MVP of the national championship.
 
"I am so proud of Korissa following into her "big sister" Miah's footsteps," said head coach Chantal Vallée. "There's no doubt that Korissa has helped our team at both ends of the floor and to see her earn a CIS major award for her defensive work is outstanding."
 
Vallée became the first back-to-back winner of the Peter Ennis Award since Laval's Linda Marquis was honoured in both 2000 and 2001. A five-time recipient of the OUA West award, she had also been nominated for the national trophy in 2009.
 
In her 10th campaign at the helm, Vallée guided her troops to a CIS-best 19-1 regular season record and their seventh consecutive OUA West title. The Lancers led all 13 national weekly polls this year, ranked first in the country in points scored per game (80.5), field goal percentage (48.4) and three-point FG percentage (37.0%), were second in rebound margin per contest (+12.0) and finished fourth in overall defence (53.4 ppg).
 
This week in Quebec City, the top-seeded Lancers hope to become the second program in CIS history to win five straight Bronze Baby Trophies as national champions, equalling the feat accomplished by Laurentian from 1975 to 1979.
 
"The University of Windsor congratulates Coach Vallée on her second consecutive selection as the CIS coach of the year," said athletic director Mike Havey. "Chantal's record of accomplishment and incredible team achievement are certainly worthy of this recognition. Her program has been a source of great pride and inspiration for our University."