Meia Daniels and the 2007-2008 Howard Payne University women’s basketball team will be honored in the Class of 2014-15 of the American Southwest Conference Hall of Honor.

The Class of 2014-15 represents the fifth group inducted to the ASC Hall of Honor and includes the first team to be honored. The American Southwest Conference Hall of Honor recognizes outstanding former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and teams who brought pride and honor to the conference through their contributions. On-campus recognition ceremonies are planned for each Hall of Honor inductee during February.

Daniels and the 2007-08 HPU women’s basketball team will be honored in between the women’s and men’s basketball home games on Saturday, February 21, in the Brownwood Coliseum.

MEIA DANIELS – Howard Payne University – Women’s Basketball, 2005-2008
A four-time all-conference honoree and three-time West Division Player of the Year, Meia Daniels capped her Howard Payne women’s basketball career with a NCAA Division III national championship, selection as the WBCA Division III Player of the Year (2008) and as a finalist for the Women’s Collegiate Sports 2008 Athlete of the Year award. Daniels is one of two women to twice earn American Southwest Conference Female Athlete of the Year honors, claiming the league’s highest student-athlete honor for both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years.

A point guard, Daniels is one of two women’s basketball student-athletes to have been named to the All-ASC team in each of her four seasons (2005, ’06, ’07, ’08). She also earned All-West Division First-Team honors all four seasons and was three times voted ASC West Division Player of the Year (2006, ’07, ’08). Daniels was the 2005 ASC West Division Freshman of the Year. Howard Payne made four straight ASC Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament appearances during Daniels’ collegiate career, winning the conference title three times (2005, ’07, ’08) with Daniels selected the tournament most valuable player in her junior and senior years (2007, ’08).

Daniels was named Most Valuable Player of the 2008 NCAA Division III Women’s Final Four and selected to the All-Tournament team. The WBCA named Daniels as an all-American in 2008 and honorable mention all-American in 2007. Her list of collegiate honors included WBCA and D3hoops.com all-South Region awards, including D3hoops.com South Region Player of the Year citations as a junior and senior (2007, ’08).

As a player, Daniels was part of an HPU program that posted a 109-12 record and made four trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Both Howard Payne and American Southwest Conference records bear Daniels’ name. She still holds seven Howard Payne career, season and game records and currently holds two ASC career marks – games played (121) and field goals attempted (1,694) – and five conference season records – points (649), field goals made (215) and field goals attempted (479). Daniels lists second all-time in career scoring in the ASC and at Howard Payne (2,118).

Daniels holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminal justice from HPU (2008) and a master’s degree in organizational management from Wayne State College Nebraska (2010). Following graduation from HPU, Daniels spent two seasons as a women’s basketball graduate assistant coach at NCAA Division II Wayne State College (Neb.). She helped guide WSC to a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship in 2010.

Daniels is a member of the Howard Payne University Athletics Hall of Fame, both as a student-athlete and as a member of the 2007-08 HPU women’s basketball national champion team. Daniels is presently Assistant Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator and women’s basketball head coach at Howard Payne.

HOWARD PAYNE UNIVERSITY – 2007-08 Women’s Basketball Team
Team members include Stacy Blalock, Stephanie Brewer, Meia Daniels, Makiesha Davis, Mionca Hall, Elaine Hobbs, Hope Hohertz, Kimberly Hoffman, Sarah Pfiester, Daphnie Pippins, Katy Sarem, Tiffany Warner, Chris Kielsmeier (head coach), Lindy Hatfield (assistant coach), Traci Ortiz (student manager).

The American Southwest Conference claimed its first NCAA Division III national team championship when the 2007-08 Howard Payne University women’s basketball team capped a perfect 33-0 season with a 68-54 win over Messiah College for the 2008 national title. It was just the fifth time a team had gone undefeated in claiming the Division III women’s basketball championship. The HPU women’s basketball team was the only collegiate basketball team, men’s or women’s at any level, to finish the 2007-08 season with an undefeated record.

In addition to winning the first national team title in the ASC, the 2007-08 team also recorded the first national team title for Howard Payne since the institution joined the NCAA in 1996. The 2007-08 women’s basketball national championship team was inducted to the Howard Payne University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Howard Payne’s championship season included an American Southwest Conference title and West Division championship. The Lady Jackets led Division III women’s basketball in home attendance average and extended their Brownwood Coliseum home win streak to 36 games. The HPU win streak vs. ASC opponents stretched to 34 games. Only four of the season’s 33 games were decided by 10 or fewer points, and HPU led NCAA Division III women basketball in scoring margin (27.8 pts. per game).

The 2007-08 Lady Jackets established three ASC season records that still stand: points (2,485), free throws made (671) and free throws attempted (885). During the season, Howard Payne earned the first No. 1 national ranking for women’s basketball in school history.

In addition to team accolades, the 2007-08 Howard Payne team produced numerous national, region and conference individual award winners, including WBCA Division III National Player of the Year and All-American, Meia Daniels; WBCA and D3hoops.com National Coach of the Year, Chris Kielsmeier; WBCA Honorable Mention All-American, Stacey Blalock; and three all-region picks, Daniels, Blalock and Kim Hoffman. The conference postseason awards list included HPU players on the all-ASC team, all-West Division first, second and defensive teams; West Division freshman team; and ASC All-Academic team. ASC West Division awards were presented to Daniels (Player of the Year), Blalock (Defensive Player of the Year) and Kielsmeier (Coach of the Year).

AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE HALL OF HONOR

Class of 1999-2000

Dr. Chet Sample, Sul Ross State University, Athletic Director

Dr. Robert Mason, Austin College, Athletic Director

Dr. Don Newbury, Howard Payne University, President

Class of 2000-01

Dr. Robert Shimp, McMurry University, President

Class of 2001-02

Jeff Goodin, Hardin-Simmons University, Golf Coach

Class of 2006-07

Fred H. Jacoby, American Southwest Conference, Commissioner

Preston Meyer, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Football Student-Athlete

Cara Smedley Murez, University of Texas at Dallas, Soccer Student-Athlete

Class of 2014-15

Kendra Anderson Hassell, Hardin-Simmons University, Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete

Meia Daniels, Howard Payne University, Women’s Basketball Student-Athlete

Jerrell Freeman, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Football Student-Athlete

2007-08 Howard Payne Women’s Basketball Team, National Champion

Pictured above: Meia Daniels and the 2007-2008 Howard Payne University women’s basketball team pictured following the 2008 championship.  Back row, left to right: Lindy Hatfield (assistant coach), Elaine Hobbs, Sarah Pfiester, Sarah Jockers, Stacey Blalock, Hope Hohertz, Daphnie Pippins, Kim Hoffman and Chris Kielsmeier (head coach). Front row, left to right: Traci Ortiz (manager), Mionca Hall, Makiesha Davis, Tiffany Warner, Meia Daniels, Katy Sarem, Stephanie Brewer and Amy Stevens (trainer).