Player of the Week: Ebony Dennis Pulling All the Stops

Freshmen guard Ebony "Ebay" Dennis averaged 11.5 points and seven rebounds per game last week as she played a critical role for the Lady Royals, helping them secure a third seed for the ODAC Women's Tournament beginning tomorrow at the Salem Civic Center, in Salem, Va.

Head women's basketball coach Kevin Griffin comments, "Ebay has been amazing; she has done whatever has been asked of her. There are many games when she guards the opposing team's best player. She is a terrific defensive player and rebounds well for us. She plays with intensity and goes about her business. She's played and practiced hard all year."

Dennis grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and is the middle child of five siblings. She played soccer throughout high school to stay in shape, but her "first love has always been basketball," so it wasn't a hard decision to continue playing in college. During her high school basketball career she was awarded second team All City-County and was always an important part of the team, even while battling injuries as an upper classmen.

Coach Griffin said, "Not only is she an intense basketball player, she also does a super job in the classroom." Her major is Communications and she has a 3.2 grade point average. Post-college Ebony wants to be a sports journalist to learn more about athletes, other than the negative aspects the current media report.

When asked why she chose to attend EMU, Ebony replied, "Coach Griffin wouldn't stop following me. I knew I wanted to play ball somewhere and I had looked at some Division 1 schools, but I didn't give anyone but Coach Griffin a chance, plus Coach Griffin told me I would be a good fit for the EMU program, so I decided to give it a try."

Ebay is enjoying her basketball experience, it's a dream to her. She had no idea she could love her coach and teammates as much as she does. She attributes great team chemistry to the Lady Royals doing well this season. "No one in the league expected us to be as successful as we are. They [critics] said that because we are young it would take at least another

year for us to learn to work with each other. I think we took that to heart." The Lady Royals were predicted to finish seventh in the conference, but surprised everyone but themselves as they concluded the regular season in third place.

Teammate Kathleen Steele said, "Ebony is a great player. She deserves Player of the Week. She just goes out there and plays her hardest. She has the potential to be a really great player." All students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to travel south on Interstate 81 to watch the Lady Royals play Washington and Lee at 8 pm in the quarterfinal round of the ODAC Basketball Tournament. Should EMU come out victorious on Friday night, their semifinal contest will be 8 p.m. on Saturday. The championship will take place on Sunday at 3:30pm. All games will be held at the Salem Civic Center, in Salem, Va.