Catawba's Thorne Named D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year, Six SAC Women Earn All-Southeast Region Honors

ROCK HILL, S.C. (thesac.com) – Catawba's Lyrik Thorne was named the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Southeast Region Player of the Year, the association announced Thursday (March 14). Thorne also earned a spot on the All-Region First Team, while five other SAC women were named to the All-Southeast Region teams.

Thorne makes program history as the first Catawba player to earn Southeast Region Player of the Year honors and is the first SAC athlete to earn the award since Anderson's Alexy Mollenhauer in 2020. She was recently honored as the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, making history as the first SAC athlete to collect both awards in the same season. In addition, Thorne was named to the 2024 SAC All-Tournament Team. She currently ranks No. 1 in the region and No. 10 in the country with 20.1 points per game, while averaging 4.3 rebounds, five assists and 2.1 steals.  

Joining Thorne on the Southeast Region First Team is Carson-Newman's Braelyn Wykle and Wingate's Emily Hege. Anderson's Diamond McDowell, Wingate's Hannah Clark, and Lenoir-Rhyne's Blaikley Crooks were honored as Southeast Region Second Team members.

Catawba, Wingate, Anderson, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Carson-Newman are set to compete Friday (March 15) in the first round of the NCAA DII Southeast Regional, hosted by No. 1 seed Catawba in Salisbury, N.C.

2024 D2CCA Women's Basketball All-Southeast Region Teams

First Team

Lyrik Thorne, Catawba (Region Player of the Year)

Lauryn Taylor, Francis Marion 

Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman

Emily Hege, Wingate

WyKira Johnson-Kelly, Lander

Second Team

Diamond McDowell, Anderson (S.C.)

Letiya Reeves, Columbus State 

Hannah Clark, Wingate

Kalaya Hall, UNC Pembroke

Blaikley Crooks, Lenoir-Rhyne