Jessica Clemencon flew across an ocean to learn English and play basketball for the University of Windsor Lancers two years ago and she's been changing the landscape of the CIS women's league ever since.
The 22-year-old native of St. Rambert, France, was named the CIS player of the year at Thursday night's awards banquet held at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts. She became just the third player in the history of the women's university game to win both the CIS rookie of the year -which she did in 2010 -and the CIS player of the year.
She's the first to do it in backto-back seasons.
UNB post Amanda Sharpe, McGill forward Anneth Him-Lazarenko and Saskatchewan guard Kim Tulloch were the other nominees for the Nan Copp Award.
"It's great," said Clemencon, who is also the OUA player of the year. "But as I said, it's team work. I got the award but we play together and I'd be as happy if they gave it to one of my teammates."
None of her teammates on the No.1-ranked Lancers however, can match her stats line. She led the OUA in scoring (19.05 ppg) and was third in the nation. She averaged 8.2 rebounds per game (13th in the CIS) and was second nationally in blocks per game (2.0). She was the top free throw shooter in the OUA and fourth nationally at 85.6 per cent and her shooting accuracy at 55.1 per cent was fifth across the country.
The six-foot-three post is the first OUA player to capture the award since 1996.
"I'm really happy for Jessica," Windsor coach Chantal Vallee said. "I know her and it really doesn't even phase her. She's super humble and a team player. She wants her team to win. She's extrodinary in terms of her quality. I feel fortunate and blessed to have her on my team."
Clemencon's play as a rookie helped the Lancers reach the 2010 CIS final where they settled for silver.
Today, she and the Lancers begin a quest for gold as Windsor hosts the 2011 CIS championships.
Clemencon admits she knew little about the league before she arrived.
"I checked some websites for stats and I watched a few videos," she said. "I figured if it was not a good experience I can still go back (home)."
North America held a fascination for her since childhood and that's why she opted for Canada when she decided to learn English on a university campus. She applied to University of Toronto and University of Ottawa because they were located in big cities but then she started investigating the basketball side of things and opted for Windsor and their Frenchspeaking coach instead.
"You go across the ocean not knowing what you're going to do and I was probably crying on the plane," she said. "But I felt comfortable right away."
Clemencon was also named a CIS first-team all-star.
Courtesy of The Windsor Star
