SAC Places Five Women’s Basketball Players On Daktronics All-Region Team
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The 2009-2010 Daktronic's Southeast All-Region team has been announced with five South Atlantic Conference players making the list, including three first team nominations. Jasmine Gunn of Tusculum College was also named Southeast Region Player of the Year.
Joining Gunn with first team honors are Shari Buford from Carson-Newman College and Anita Bulcher from Newberry College. The All-Region second team nominations from the SAC are Dana Hicks from Catawba College and Amber Holt from Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Gunn, who made the Daktronic All-Region team for a second year in a row, has been named Southeast All-Region player of the year to go along with being named the 2010 SAC player of the year. Gunn is the first player in school history to be named region player of the year or first team All-Region. The 4-11 Gunn led the Pioneers to the program's first-ever Food Lion SAC Tournament title on March 7, earning Tournament MVP honors as Tusculum clinched its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Buford, a 2009-10 All-South Atlantic Conference first team honoree, was named to the Daktronics All-Southeast Region First Team. "We're very proud of her," said Head Coach Dean Walsh. "She's worked very hard to achieve this level of play. She came to Carson-Newman in the fall of 2006 as a raw, talented athlete and her numbers speak for themselves in what she has accomplished." Buford, who is averaging a double-double on the season (12.7 points and 10.4 rebounds), is also sixth in the country with 3.1 blocks per contest and has posted 17 double-doubles on the year. She is the only player in Carson-Newman history to 1000 points, 1000 rebounds and 200 blocks.
Bulcher, a senior forward, earns her first all-region selection and second All-America eligible honor. Bulcher averaged 15.8 points per game, was the conference's best rebounder at 11.9 rebounds per game during the regular season, and was named the SAC Women's Basketball Scholar Athlete. Bulcher was also named to the All-Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament Team and had a string of 11 consecutive double-doubles going into this weekend's Southeast Regional Tournament.
Holt, a four time All-Conference selection, has been named to her first All-Region team by garnering second team honors. Holt finished the season with 11.0 points per game, 3.2 assist per game, and 31 three-point baskets made all while leading the No. 24 Lenoir-Rhyne Bears to a 21-7 overall record, 13-3 record in league play, and to its second consecutive South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship. Holt currently ranks fifth in points with 1,491 and fourth in assists with 408 on Lenoir-Rhyne's career records lists.
Hicks led Catawba in both scoring with 15.1 points per game and rebounds with 11.2 per game this season. Hicks ranked second in the league, top 10 in NCAA Division II, in rebounding and posted 14 double-doubles this season. Hicks hit on nearly 50 percent of her field goal attempts and connected on 72.8 percent at the line.
The South Atlantic Conference led the way with five selections while the Peach Belt Conference had four picks and Conference Carolinas had one selection.
Six of the all-region players are members of squads that have advanced to the upcoming NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., this weekend.
The members of the All-Southeast Region First Team are now eligible for All-America consideration. The top vote-getter at the national level will be named Ron Lentz National Player of the Year.
The team is selected by the sports information directors of the NCAA Division II Southeast Region with voting powered by ATHLETICSITE.COM.
2010 Daktronics All-Southeast Region Women's Basketball Teams
First Team
Shari Buford, Carson-Newman
Phoebe Smith, Columbus State
Shannon Singleton-Bates, Francis Marion
Anita Bulcher, Newberry
Jasmine Gunn, Tusculum
Second Team
Esty Flores, Barton
Teshimya Tillman, Clayton State
Dana Hicks, Catawba
Amber Holt, Lenoir-Rhyne
Whitney Randolph, North Georgia
Southeast Region Player of the Year: Jasmine Gunn, Tusculum