C-N's Buford, Kyle, Williams Earn All-SAC Honors
March 6, 2009
ROCK HILL, SC - Three Carson-Newman women's basketball players earned 2008-09 All-South Atlantic Conference honors Friday. The announcement was made at the SAC Basketball Awards Banquet at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena in Hickory, N.C.
Shari Buford was named to the All-SAC first team, Ashley Kyle earned All-SAC second team honors and Zoriah Williams was selected to the All-Freshman team.
The three Lady Eagles have led their team to a 19-9 record this season and have helped C-N advanced to the SAC tournament semifinals, where it will face top-seeded Tusculum College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Buford, a 5-11 junior forward from Hampton, Ga., is averaging 14.4 points per game this season. Buford's 7.8 rebounds per contest is good enough for fourth in the SAC. She is shooting at a 62.3 percent clip, which is second best in the conference. She is also second in the SAC in blocked shots with 41. Her 14-point effort at Brevard on Feb. 18 pushed her past the 1,000-point plateau (1,007) for her career. Buford scored a career-high 28 points to lead C-N to a 90-87 upset of then-No. 5 Tusculum on Jan. 17.
Kyle, a 5-6 junior guard from Jefferson City, Tenn., leads the Lady Eagles in scoring with a 15 points per game average. She is third in the SAC in assists with 135 (4.82 apg.) and is fourth in steals with 60. Kyle fired in a career-high 23 points in a 106-84 win at Brevard on Feb. 18.
Williams, a 5-10 freshman forward from Calera, Ala., has contributed 6.4 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game this season. She tallied a career-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 94-91 loss at Tusculum on Feb. 14.
Wingate University senior guard Anna Atkinson, the league's all-time steals leader, was named the 2008-09 SAC Women's Basketball Player of the Year, the league announced today.
Atkinson wins the women's Player of the Year Award for the second year in a row. Atkinson also received the Women's Basketball SAC Scholar-Athlete Award for the third year in a row.
Wingate's Kurie Washington, who ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 15.3 points per game, was named the Women's Freshman of the Year.
Lenoir-Rhyne coach Todd Starkey, who guided L-R to a share of the women's title, was named Women's Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.
Joining Atkinson on the women's All-Conference First Team are: Buford, Amber Holt from Lenoir-Rhyne, Laura Marquardt from Newberry and Stephany Neptune and Jasmine Gunn from Tusculum.
The women's All-Conference Second Team consists of: Kyle, Brittany Mitch and Denise Moore from Lenoir-Rhyne, Brittini Young from Mars Hill, Ashli Oliver from Tusculum and Washington.
Joining Washington on the women's All-Freshman team are: Williams, Dana Hicks from Catawba, Cameron Sealey from Lenoir-Rhyne and Dayshalee Salaman from Lincoln Memorial University.
Atkinson and Newberry's Laura Marquardt were named co-recipients for the women's basketball Scholar-Athlete Award.
Atkinson is one of the most decorated women's basketball players in SAC history. She is a two-time Player of the Year, a three-time women's basketball SAC Scholar-Athlete, the 2008 SAC Female Athlete of the Year, the 2008 SAC President's Award winner and the 2008 Division II Conference Commissioner's Association Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She is a two-time first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® College Division first team and was a third-team Daktronics All-American last year, and was one of only three NCAA Division II women's basketball student-athletes to earn All-America honors on the court and in the classroom last year. The senior from Marion, N.C., is majoring in biology and carries a 4.0 GPA. She has also been active in numerous civic and campus leadership projects, including St. Jude's Hospital fundraisers, Crimestoppers, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Wingate University Biology Club, and Pre-Professional Health Care Organization.
Marquardt is a three-year starter at guard for Newberry and is tied for third with Atkinson in the league scoring leaders at 16.3 points per game. She also was recently named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® College Division first team. Marquardt helped lead Newberry to back-to-back tournament titles in 2006 and 2007 and set the school record this season with 72 3-pointers. A native of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., has been a leader in the Newberry community. Over the last three years she has participated in the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and the Leadership Council. Marquardt has also volunteered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Mary's Race, benefiting children with cancer.
The 2009 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference women's basketball semifinals are Saturday at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C. The championship games are set for Sunday. The women's tournament winner receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.
2009 ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS AND AWARD RECIPIENTS
WOMEN'S TEAMS
Shari Buford, Carson-Newman
Amber Holt, Lenoir-Rhyne
Laura Marquardt, Newberry
Stephany Neptune, Tusculum
Jasmine Gunn, Tusculum
Anna Atkinson, Wingate
Ashley Kyle, Carson-Newman
Brittany Mitch, Lenoir-Rhyne
Denise Moore, Lenoir-Rhyne
Brittini Young, Mars Hill
Ashli Oliver, Tusculum
Kurie Washington, Wingate
Zoriah Williams, Carson-Newman
Dana Hicks, Catawba
Cameron Sealey, Lenoir-Rhyne
Dayshalee Salaman, Lincoln Memorial
Kurie Washington, Wingate
COACH OF THE YEAR: Todd Starkey, Lenoir-Rhyne
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Anna Atkinson, Wingate
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Kurie Washington, Wingate
SAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Anna Atkinson, Wingate and Laura Marquardt, Newberry
