BUFFALO, NY - Three University at Buffalo women's basketball players received Mid-American Conference postseason honors Wednesday evening at the league's tournament Tip-Off Banquet at the Marriott Key Center in Cleveland.

Junior center Tiffany Bell (Alexandria, VA/Hayfield) was named to the All-Mid-American Conference second team while senior guard Sonia Ortega (Chihuahua, Mexico/Cobach) earned honorable mention recognition. Forward Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) was selected to the league's All-Freshman team.

Kent's Dawn Zerman received MAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors while Western Michigan's Kristin Koetsier won Freshman of the Year and Brenda Oldfield of Ball State earned Coach of the Year honors in her first season with the Cardinals.

Bell, the MAC's regular season scoring champion with 19.6 points per game, was selected to her second All-MAC team in UB's two seasons in the conference. Bell earned honorable mention recognition after the 1998-99 season. She also led the Bulls in rebounding this season pulling down 7.8 boards per game and became the 11th UB player and only the second junior to score 1,000 points in her career. Bell scored a season-high 33 points against Bowling Green on February 25 and finished the regular season ranked among the MAC leaders, finishing tenth in rebounding and fifth in free throw percentage at 79.3%. Bell has led Buffalo in scoring in 18 of the 25 games she has played and has recorded six double-doubles this season and 16 in her career. She also has scored 20-or-more points in ten games this season.

Ortega, selected to her first All-MAC postseason team, set the Bulls single season assist record with 184. She averaged 8.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and led the team with 81 steals. Ortega finished the regular season among the conference leaders in assists (6.59, 2nd), steals (2.96, 3rd) and assist/turnover ratio (1.60, 4th). Her 2.59 offensive rebounds per game was also tenth in the MAC.

Kilpela, UB's first-ever All-Freshman team selection, averaged 10.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest, second on the team in both categories. In conference games, she averaged an impressive 12.1 points and 7.9 rebounds. In addition, Kilpela registered 20 of her 24 steals in MAC regular season play this year and averaged 29.6 minutes per game in league games. She led the Bulls in rebounding on 13 occasions this season including the last six contests. Her 7.2 rebounds per game ranked her 12th in the MAC to end the regular season.