St. Louis Native Taylor Manuel Honored at MVC Tournament

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Incarnate Word Academy alumna Taylor Manuel was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year on Thursday. Manuel received her award at the Family Arena just minutes after she helped the Loyola Ramblers upset the Bradley Braves in the opening round of the MVC Tournament.

The redshirt sophomore forward ended the regular season averaging just shy of a double-double with 16.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game– good enough for fifth and second in the league, respectively. She also averaged 1.6 blocks (second) and shot 48 percent from the field (fifth).

Her outstanding first MVC campaign was good enough to get her the weekly newcomer award three times during the regular season, and she was named to the First-Team All-MVC the day prior, making Thursday’s announcement a little more predictable.

Her senior year at Incarnate Word, Manuel averaged 15.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks and was named 2012 Miss Show-Me Basketball for Missouri, St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Player of the Year, Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year and Conference MVP. She was selected to All-State teams both her junior and senior years and was on the Incarnate Word team that won a 5A State Title her junior year.

After high school, Manuel went on to Purdue where she played in 34 games and made the Big Ten All-Freshman team.

Manuel then transfered to the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers*. Her first season she was able to play after the one-year sit rule for transfers (hence “newcomer”) was the second for head coach and former WNBA great, Sheryl Swoopes. Loyola finished the regular season 3-15 in conference play and 5-24 overall.

Manuel and her fellow Ramblers are back in action at 12 p.m. Friday looking to extend their season one more day as they take on the top-seeded Wichita State Shockers.

The MVC also gave out other awards, including Coach of the Year and Julia Stiles Player of the Year, among others, during the presentation(Complete list). Spoiler Alert: Wichita State unsurprisingly wins both I just mentioned.

Largely pointless footnote:

*The nickname is Ramblers, but the mascot is a wolf. I have figured this is because a rambler is “someone who walks for pleasure, especially in the countryside” and wolves love long strolls, as was made clear to CJ Cregg and America by a Pre-Ron Swanson Nick Offerman on The West Wing.  (You’re welcome for the deep internet/TV pull and avoidance of having to Google it yourself)