Shafir named outstanding Jewish scholastic female athlete for 2012

January 31, 2012 | News, UToday
By Brian DeBenedictis



Naama Shafir, shown here signing autographs for fans last year, scores on the court and in the classroom. She is a two-time Academic All-Mid-American Conference honoree.

Toledo senior women’s basketball player Naama Shafir has been named the 2012 Marty Glickman Outstanding Jewish Scholastic Female Athlete of the Year.

The award will be presented to Shafir at the 20th Annual National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Induction Ceremony Sunday, April 29, at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center in Commack, N.Y.

“This is a great honor, but it’s something that I couldn’t have accomplished without the support of my teammates and coaches,” Shafir said.

A season ago, Shafir was a key component in the Rockets capturing the 2011 WNIT and claimed tourney MVP recognition after scoring a career-high 40 points in a thrilling victory over USC in the championship game.

The three-time all-conference selection averaged a team-high 15.3 points, a squad-best 5.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 30.8 minutes per game in 2010-11. She finished third in the Mid-American Conference in helpers, seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.09) and 10th in scoring, en route to earning first-team all-league accolades.

The Hoshaya, Israel, native helped Toledo win a school-record 29 games and become the first MAC basketball program to capture a national post-season tournament. The midnight blue and gold also claimed an outright MAC regular-season crown for the first time in a decade, as well as successfully defended its MAC West Division title.

Shafir, who has started all 106 games in her illustrious UT career, was lost for the 2011-12 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee during UT’s 69-58 win at Indiana Nov. 25. She recently announced that she will apply for a medical hardship and plans to return to the women’s basketball team for the 2012-13 season.

“Naama is an outstanding ambassador for the Jewish community and a class act both on and off the court,” Toledo Head Coach Tricia Cullop said. “This is a prestigious honor for her.”

The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to honoring Jewish individuals who have distinguished themselves in the field of sports. The objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics.

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