UMBC

Michelle Kurowski was named to the Lowes Senior CLASS Award Second Team

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – UMBC women’s basketball senior Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) has been selected to the Lowes Senior CLASS Award Second Team, which recognizes the nation’s top female basketball seniors who excel in the classroom and make an impact in their community, in addition to their accomplishments on the court.

The award, presented to NCAA Division I student-athletes each year in 10 sports, focuses on four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

During her time at UMBC, Kurowski has achieved great success in all four areas.  On the court, the Hicksville, N.Y. native finished her career ranked second all-time in scoring at UMBC, and places 18th in America East history with 1,690 career points.  In addition, she is one of only 12 Retrievers to ever score over 1,000 points and grab over 500 rebounds.  A 2012 America East All-Conference Second Team selection, and a member of the America East All-Tournament Team, she finished fifth in the America East in scoring this season, averaging 13.3 points per game while leading UMBC to the America East championship game.  She also led the league in free throw percentage while ranking ninth in the NCAA with a .889 success rate at the line.  She also led the Retrievers in steals with 57 swipes this year.

The senior also completes her career ranked among the top-10 in school history in multiple categories.  She holds the school record for most games started (118), minutes played (4,131) and free throws made (383) while placing second in field goals (577) and free throw percentage (.857) to go along with her career mark in points.

In addition to her accomplishments on the court, Kurowski has excelled in the classroom, as well.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude in three years from UMBC with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in social welfare while maintaining a 3.84 grade-point-average.  This year, Kurowski earned a 4.0 in her first semester of graduate school while pursuing a teaching certificate and a master’s degree in early childhood education.

 The 2011 America East Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Kurowski was selected to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team and the America East Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team in both 2011 and 2012, in addition to earning Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team honors for the 2011 season.  She was also named the female recipient of UMBC’s Matt Skalsky Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award in 2011.

A women’s basketball team co-captain for the 2011-12 season, Kurowski is the vice president of UMBC’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and she won UMBC’s 2010-11 SAAC Award for academic achievement, community service and athletic involvement. Kurowski participates in UMBC’s Make a Difference mentoring program, which pairs student-athletes with elementary school students on a one-on-one basis to promote academic and personal growth. She has also volunteered with Autism Speaks and for the Department of Social Services foster care unit.

Kurowski is joined on the second team by New Hampshire’s Denise Beliveau, giving the America East two of the ten players on the national teams.  Only the America East and Pac 12 have multiple recogitions.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Lowes Senior Class Award Winner

Nnemkadi Ogwumike, F, Stanford

Lowes Senior Class Award – First Team

Amanda Johnson, F, Oregon

Emilie Johnson, G, UC Santa Barbara

Natalie Novosel, G, Notre Dame

Justine Raterman, F, Dayton

Lowes Senior Class Award – Second Team

Denise Beliveau, F, New Hampshire

Brittany Carter, G, Memphis

Lauren Edwards, G, Princeton

Michelle Kurowski, G, UMBC

Brittany Rayburn, G, Purdue