Junior Michelle Kirk of the American University women's basketball team has been selected as the Patriot League Player of the Year, conference officials announced Tuesday. Classmate Liz Leer joins Kirk on the All-Patriot League First Team, while Head Coach Matt Corkery was honored as the Patriot League Coach of the Year.

Kirk becomes the first AU women's basketball student-athlete to ever be named the conference's Player of the Year. The Painted Post, N.Y., native leads the Patriot League in scoring at 18.1 points per game, which is 34th best in the country. She has led the Eagles in scoring in 22 of their 28 games so far this season, scoring at least 17 points in 18 of those contests. She was selected as the Patriot League Player of the Week a conference-high five times this season. Kirk has scored 507 points in the 2009-10 campaign, the fourth-highest single-season output in program history. Additionally, for her career, she reached the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season, and now ranks eighth in school history with 1,110 career points.

Kirk was also named to the All-Patriot League First Team for the second consecutive season, only the fourth Eagle to be named first team all-league twice in her career. Kirk is the first two-time First Team All-Patriot League pick since American joined the conference in the 2001-02 season. The last two-time all-league first team pick in AU history was Mary Klima, who was named All-CAA First Team in both 1997 and 1998.

"Michelle has had an outstanding Patriot League season and is very deserving of the Player of the Year award," remarked Corkery. "She has consistently played at a very high level and has not only shown her ability as a scorer, but also as a rebounder and defender. She has been a leader for us both on and off the floor. We are very excited for her to receive this award."

Leer was honored to the All-Patriot League First Team for the first time in her career after averaging 12.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. She has also registered a Patriot League-leading 2.2 blocked shots per contest, which ranks 23rd in the country. She has recorded 62 blocks this season, which matches her own all-time single-season record that she set in 2008-09. Additionally, the Glenside, Pa., native is now the school's career blocked shots leader with 163.

"We are very proud for Liz to be recognized as a First Team All-Patriot League performer," added Corkery. "There is no doubt that she is one of the top five players in the conference. She is a playmaker on both ends of the floor by scoring in a variety of ways and by rebounding and blocking shots. It's a big honor and we are very happy for Liz."

Kirk and Leer's recognition to the All-PL First Team marks the first time in program history that two student-athletes have been selected to the Patriot League's first team.  In 1988, Kelly Lane and Beth Shearer were both selected to the All-Colonial Athletic Association First Team, which is the only previous occasion in program history that there have been two all-conference first team members from AU.

Additionally, Corkery has been selected as the Patriot League Coach of the Year after guiding the Eagles to a 20-8 regular season, including a best-ever 13-1 conference record. AU's 20 wins is tied for the second most in program history, and is the most since 1997-98. Corkery is 39-20 in his two seasons at the helm at American.

The Eagles will begin the Patriot League Tournament when they take on seventh-seeded Lafayette in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 6 at 5 p.m. Click here for more information on the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, including how to purchase tickets.

The following are the complete list of award winners:

Player of the Year
Michelle Kirk, American, Jr., F

Defensive Player of the Year
Angela Myers, Navy, Jr., G

Rookie of the Year
Jhazmine Lynch, Colgate, Fr., G

Coach of the Year
Matt Corkery, American

First-Team All-Patriot League
Michelle Kirk, American, Jr., F
Liz Leer, American, Jr., F
Erin Anthony, Army, Jr., F
Emily Gratch, Lehigh, So., F
Erica Prosser, Lehigh, Jr., G
Angela Myers, Navy, Jr., G

Second-Team All-Patriot League
Trisha Krewson, Bucknell, So., G
Whitney Fremeau, Holy Cross, Jr., F
Briana McFadden, Holy Cross, Sr., G
LaKeisha Wright, Lafayette, Jr., G/F
Alex Ross, Lehigh, Sr., G

All-Rookie Team
Molly Yardley, Army, Fr., G
Rachel Voss, Bucknell, Fr., G/F
Jhazmine Lynch, Colgate, Fr., G
Amy Lepley, Holy Cross, Fr., F
Chey Arvin, Navy, Fr., G