February 26, 2008

Freshman Laura Fisher of the LumberJills basketball team was named the 2008 recipient of the UMAC Newcomer of the Year Award.  This marks the second straight season Northland has won the award, as Fisher follows on the footsteps of last year's recipient, Chelsea Lundgren.  This award has only been given for two years, so Northland has a clean sweep of the Newcomer Award.

Fisher, who played high school basketball at Green Bay East High School, earned a starting spot midway through the season and started playing better and better as she gained more experience.  She finished the season averaging 6.4 points per game.  Her 5.0 rebounds were 18th in the conference and she was 11th in shooting with a percentage of 42.5.  She was sixth in the league in steals with 1.86, and 13th in blocked shots at 0.64.  Fisher was also 10th in the league in defensive rebounds pulling in 4.07 per game.

Fisher had a season high 14 points against North Central College when she was matched up with their 6'3" center, and had one of her best games of the season against UM-Morris in the UMAC Semifinals when she had 7 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots. 

"Laura Fisher is a great athlete who has high expectations of herself and a great work ethic," said Coach Roiger.  "She is a great competitor and will never back down from anyone.  Laura was a player that rose up when the competition got tough, she was excited by challenges.  As the season progressed I found her more and more coachable as she learned the college game and learned what she needed to do to be successful.  And her best years are in front of her.  She knows what she needs to do to become even better, and I expect with her nature she will come back next year with more skills and consistency in the post.  She is very strong, and when she learns to use that strength she will be that much better.  Laura is a player that could be a three-time All-Conference performer."

Fisher is the daughter of Mary and Rick Fisher of Green Bay, WI.  She is majoring in English at Northland College and is also an excellent student, having earned an Academic All-Conference Award in basketball and volleyball.  She also plays volleyball for the Jills, and was on their conference tournament winning team this past fall, where she played middle hitter for Northland.