Mason's Michelle Munoz was named Ohio Ms. Basketball on Wednesday, becoming Greater Cincinnati's first two-time winner of the award and only the third overall.

        It is the second straight year Munoz, a 6-foot-1 senior, has won the award, which is presented annually to the state's best female player.

        The Tennessee-bound Munoz averaged 24.0 points and 9.0 rebounds for the Comets.

        “She's basically been a coach's dream,” Mason coach Gerry Lackey said.

        In Munoz's four years as a starter, the Comets went 94-8. They finished the regular season undefeated in 1999 and 2000, last year beating Pickerington 36-25 in the state championship.

        Munoz, daughter of NFL Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz, said she hopes to silence critics who say she is too small to play inside and not quick enough to play outside against elite college competition.

        “There are some people who told my dad he would never make it in the NFL after he had knee surgery in college,” Munoz said. “There always are going to be people who say you can't do this, you can't do that. I guess that always gives people incentive to work harder.”

        Munoz joins Tennessee standout Semeka Randall and former Volunteer Vonda Ward — both of whom went to Garfield Heights Trinity — as the only two-time Ms. Basketball winners.

        Previous Cincinnati winners were Reading's Carol Madsen in 1988 and Seton's Janet Haneberg in 1987.

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