Lefebvre-Okankwu and Szczokin selected to OUA All-Star Team

The Gee-Gees had two representatives selected to the 2022-2023 OUA All-Star Teams, with both players returning for the second straight year. Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu and Natsuki Szczokin were named to the first and third teams, respectively, while Lefebvre-Okankwu was also named the inaugural recipient of the OUA Women's Basketball Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award.

Lefebvre-Okankwu wraps up her highly decorated career as a member of the First Team of All-Stars. The fifth-year veteran recorded 16.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 2022-23 and did so in impressive fashion. She was first in OUA and second in U SPORTS with a field goal percentage of 57.5, and with an average of 25.1 minutes per game she ranked second in OUA in points per 40 minutes. 

Lefebvre Okankwu recorded 2.2 steals per game which tied her for eighth in OUA, and she added 1.7 assists per game. Unfortunately, Lefebvre-Okankwu's season on the court was cut short by injury on January 27, causing her to miss the last six regular season games and the postseason.

Szczokin was named an OUA Third Team All-Star as she ranked second in the league in assists with 4.0 per game and poured in 11.5 points per game of her own. The third-year point guard from Barrie, Ont., ranked seventh in OUA with a career best three-point shooting percentage of 35.6. She established a career high with 27 points in the late-season game against Laurentian and had nine assists against Guelph. 

A previous winner of the Joy Bellinger Award, this season Okankwu was announced as the recipient of the conference's newest award. OUA introduced the award in recognition of a student-athlete, coach, administrator in OUA Basketball for their work in supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts on and off campus. The recipient will have made outstanding contributions to OUA Basketball, and Lefebvre-Okankwu has certainly done so. She was the 2021-22 OUA East Most Valuable Player and a First Team All-Canadian, a five-time Academic All-Canadian and a U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian in 2020-2021. This year, she continued to play a leading role in the uOttawa Black Student-Athlete Advocacy Council.