Joyner heads 5 UTC All-SoCon honorees
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team went 5-for-5 on Tuesday.
The five players who started most of the team’s games this season all were honored Tuesday by the Southern Conference, led by center Jasmine Joyner as the league’s defensive player of the year.
Joyner led the league in rebounding at 10.5 per game, while topping the nation in blocked shots with 113, just over four per game, for the 18-10 Mocs. She added a teamhigh 12.6 points and was first-team all-conference in both the coaches’ and media voting.
It’s the fourth consecutive season that a Moc has earned one of the major awards and third consecutive season one has won the top defensive honor. Alicia Payne was named defensive player of the year the last two years and Taylor Hall was named overall player of the year after the 2013-14 season.
Guard Chelsey Shumpert, who averaged 10.9 points and three assists, was a consensus second-team selection for 2016-17. Queen
Alford (9.1 ppg) was a consensus third-teamer and Lakelyn Bouldin (10.1 points, 56 3-pointers) was named all-freshman in both ballotings.
Keiana Gilbert was a third-team coaches’ pick after averaging 8.7 points and being second on the team in rebounds, assists, blocked shots and steals.
“I don’t put much thought into it until after the year,” UTC coach
Jim Foster said Tuesday. “I would say it’s pretty good. We have somebody in all categories, so that’s a good thing.”
Mercer’s Kahlia Lawrence was named SoCon player of the year for the second consecutive season. UNC Greensboro’s Trina Patterson was coach of the year, while the Spartans’ Nadine Soliman was awarded the top freshman honor.