Tusculum's Sutton Named to D2CCA All-America Women's Basketball First-Team

STORY COURTESY OF TUSCULUM AND D2CCA COMMUNICATIONS

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. --- Tusculum University senior forward Maddie Sutton has been selected to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Women's Basketball All-America first team, which was announced Tuesday morning. Sutton was also named to the NCAA Division II Coaches' All-America honrable mention team, annouced by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) today.

Sutton is the first Pioneer to earn All-America honors since Jasmine Gunn was an honorable mention selection in 2010-11, and she joins Gunn (2009-10) and Susan Starnes (1995-96, 1996-97) as the only first-team All-Americans in Tusculum women's basketball program history.

The Walland, Tennessee native averaged 17.3 points and 14.6 rebounds per game for the Pioneers during the 2020-21 season, leading Tusculum to its second straight Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Championship title. The Pioneers picked up their first NCAA Division II Tournament win since 2010 before being eliminated by eventual Southeast Region champion Belmont Abbey in the semifinals. Tusculum finished with a 19-4 overall record and in second place in the South Atlantic Conference with a 15-3 conference record.

Sutton leads all Division II players in total rebounds with 335, while her 14.6 rebounding average is second to fellow first-team honoree Lilly Ritz of Wheeling. Sutton led Division II with 20 double-doubles in 23 games, ranking second among all divisions to Alexus Dye of Troy who had 21 double-doubles. Sutton had a streak of 16 straight double-doubles which was snapped in the region semifinal loss to Belmont Abbey.

Sutton, a first-team All-Conference selection, ranks second in the SAC in both offensive rebounds (4.6) and defensive rebounds (10.0) per game, good for third in Division II in defensive boards and seventh on the offensive glass. Sutton finished second in the conference and seventh nationally with an average of 38.2 minutes per game, and played at least 34 minutes in 21 out of 23 games with the exception of two games the Pioneers won by more than 40 points.

After having never reached the 20-point mark in her career prior to February, Sutton went on a run of six games of 20 points or more over an eight-game span, which included 32 points at Queens on Feb. 8 and a career-best 33 at Coker on Feb. 20. Sutton had 10 or more rebounds in all but the final game of the season, including 25 against Carson-Newman on Jan. 20 which set a school single-game record, tied for the second-most in Division II this season, and tied for third all-time in SAC history.

Sutton earned SAC Championship Most Valuable Player honors after averaging 23.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in three tournament games. She set a SAC Tournament record by going 12-for-12 from the free-throw line in a 59-43 win over Newberry in the conference quarterfinals, and led all players with 27 points and 11 rebounds in a 59-47 win over Lincoln Memorial in the championship game. In five postseason games, Sutton averaged 20.8 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for the Pioneers while playing all but 14 seconds of a possible 200 minutes.

Sutton was prolific at the free throw line for the Pioneers, ranking second in Division II in both total free throws made (127) and attempted (171), for a 74.3 percent accuracy rate that ranked 11th in the SAC. Sutton was tenth in the conference in assists per game (3.4) and ranked 11th in the league with a 1.15-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Sutton graduated from Tusculum in three years and completed her fourth year of eligibility as a graduate student. She ends her Tusculum career with averages of 8.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, ranking her seventh in program history in rebounding average and sixth in total rebounds with 772. Sutton scored 838 points in 103 career games for the Pioneers, shooting 41.8 percent (277-for-663) from the field and 73.8 percent (245-for-332) from the foul line.

Joining Sutton on the first team were Ritz, Brooklyn Pannell of Charleston, Makaila Cange of Lander and D2CCA National Player of the Year Paige Robinson of Drury.

The Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-America team is voted on by the members of D2SIDA, the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association.

In addtion, Carson-Newman's Braelyn Wykle was named to both the WBCA and D2CCA honrable mention All-America Teams. 

2020-21 D2CCA Women's Basketball All-America Team
First Team
Paige Robinson, Drury (Player of the Year)
Makaila Cange, Lander
Brooklyn Pannell, Charleston
Lilly Ritz, Wheeling
Maddie Sutton, Tusculum

Second Team
Riley Fitzwater, Concord
Tre'Zure Jobe, Emporia State
Brynne Lytle, Christian Brothers
Brooke Olson, Minnesota Duluth
Allie Schulte, Lubbock Christian

Third Team
Lexy Hightower, West Texas A&M
Breanna Locke, Emmanuel
Emma Middleton, Lubbock Christian
Shanika Peterkin, Barton College
Makyra Tramble, Southwestern Oklahoma State

Honorable Mention
Amy Baum, Hawai'i Pacific
Nija Collier, Central Missouri
Allie Navarette, MSU Denver
Zamiya Passmore, Lander
Jaelencia Williams, Union
Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman

2021 WBCA NCAA Division II Coaches' All-America honorable mention:

About the WBCA  
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.