Westbrook, DeGray, Foley among Sun Belt honorees

NEW ORLEANS — Arkansas State redshirt junior Akasha Westbrook, Little Rock junior Ronjanae DeGray and Trojans coach Joe Foley were recognized Monday when the Sun Belt Conference announced its 2017-18 season awards on Monday.

Westbrook was named to the AllSun Belt Conference Second Team. She finished the regular season as the Red Wolves’ leader with 13.4 points per game and ranks 59th in the nation with 71 steals, a mark that also leads the Sun Belt. Her 2.5 steals per game also rank 62nd in the nation and are tops in the league, while her

48.1 field goal percentage is good for seventh-best in the conference.

The Malvern native scored a career-high 23 points against South Alabama on Feb. 10, and ranks second on the squad with four double-doubles. She led the team in scoring and rebounding eight times on the year, and scored in double-figures in 18 out of her last 20 games to close out the regular season. She had eight games this season where she had three or more steals and scored 15 or more 14 times.

Westbrook is one of just eight players to have an efficiency rating of

10.0 or better this season and accounted for 21 percent of her team’s total points and field goals made. She has also made 26.4 percent of A-State’s total free throws and 16.8 percent of the squad’s rebounds.

Eighth-seeded Arkansas State (1514, 10-8) plays in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament today at 11:30 a.m. against No. 9 Appalachian State (7-22,

5-13). The winner will face regular season champion Little Rock (20-9,

17-1) Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

The Trojans’ leading scorer, DeGray, was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team, the first of her career. She averaged 13.9 points per game while tallying a 51.8 field-goal percentage and 5.6 rebounds per game.

In Sun Belt play, DeGray averaged

16 points with a 53.2 field-goal percentage and 6.2 rebounds per game. DeGray led Little Rock in scoring on

10 different occasions throughout the season and tallied double figures in all but five games. She scored at least

10 points in all but one conference game.

Foley was named the Sun Belt Conference’s Coach of the Year for the fifth time as the Trojans’ head coach. He previously won the award in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017. The 201718 season was a big one for Foley as he became the Sun Belt’s all-time winningest coach, earned his 750th career win, earned his 300th win as the Trojans’ head coach and coached in his 1,000th career game.

Foley’s Trojans won the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship with a 17-1 conference record for the second consecutive year. On Saturday, Foley tallied his fourth consecutive 20-win season at Little Rock and 11th as the Trojans’ head coach. Foley now has 27 20-win seasons in his 31 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

Senior Monique Townson and graduate Keanna Keys were both named to the All-Sun Belt Third Team.