Conference Carolinas

Conference Carolinas Announces All-Conference Basketball Honors

3/8/2013 12:00:00 AM

High Point, NC> Conference Carolinas announces the 2012-13 Men’s & Women’s Basketball All-Conference Teams, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Freshmen of the Year award winners in conjunction with the Conference Carolinas Basketball Tournament Championships taking place this week at league institutions. Head Coaches from conference member schools nominate and then vote on the award winners who represent the best of the best for the conference.

 

The conference championships started Monday with the top eight teams qualifying for quarterfinal action.  Semifinal play resumed Thursday (men) and Friday (women) with the championship finals on Saturday (men) and Sunday (women).  All games are played at the highest remaining seed with the tournament Champion receiving an automatic berth to the NCAA DII championships. Stay up to speed with all of your tournament information at the league championships website.

 

 

Women’s Player of the Year  

Nyeshea Willie, Barton

 

Junior guard Nyeshea Willie has been Barton’s offensive catalyst to a fifth consecutive 20-win season by finishing the regular season ranked first in the conference and 18th nationally with 18.6 points per game. Willie also ranks in the top-10 of the conference with in free throw percentage at 84.1% (5th in the league/39th nationally), field goal percentage at 43.0% (7th/116th) and 2.31 steals per game (8th/91st).

 

Women’s Defensive Player of the Year

Elaine Morgan, Barton

Senior guard Elaine Morgan has been Barton’s defensive anchor ranking first in the league and sixth nationally with 3.73 steals per game for a Lady Bulldogs squad that tops the conference and ranks seventh in Division II in steals and 12th nationally in defensive points per game. Many of Morgan’s steals have led to transition points as she ranks third in the league with 5.0 assists per game (23rd nationally) and fourth in the conference with a +1.65 assist-turnover ratio (50th nationally).

 

Women’s Freshman of the Year

Morgan Midkiff, Belmont Abbey

Morgan Midkiff is the first Belmont Abbey player to earn Conference Freshman of the Year honors. The guard led the Abbey and all Conference Carolinas freshmen in scoring with a 13.4 points per game average. In 20 conference games, she was 12^th overall in scoring average at 14.1 points per game. She led the team in scoring 11 times and posted a career-high of 26 in the win over Converse on January 3.

 

Women’s Coach of the Year

Jill Thomas, Pfeiffer

 

Coach Jill Thomas has led the Lady Falcons to the third-best season in school-history heading into the Conference Carolinas tournament semifinals on Friday night at 22-5. Under Thomas, the Lady Falcons led the league in total points (2,064), points per game (73.7), three-pointers made per game (8.9) and three-point percentage (35.6%). In 2012-2013, Thomas and the Lady Falcons have broken six school-records for team achievements in a game.

 

Women’s All-Conference 1^st-Team

Nyeshea Willie, Barton

Tamara Nesmith, Mount Olive

Christina Harvey, Pfeiffer

Tia Williams, Limestone

Stephanie Hayes, Limestone,

 

Women’s All-Conference 2^nd-Team

Brittany Cox, Pfeiffer

Maria Young, Limestone

Autumn Lau, Coker

Shonice Pettaway, Queens

Elaine Morgan, Barton

 

Women’s All-Conference 3^rd Team

Kelsey Long, Belmont Abbey

Amber Lau, Coker

Kellie Rhoney, Pfeiffer

Alisha Hope, North Greenville

Shante Neal, Barton

Men’s Player of the Year

Gerald Boston, Barton

 

Senior point guard Gerald Boston lived up to the hype of preseason All-American status by leading Barton to a Conference Carolinas regular season co-championship title and the top-seed in the league tournament. Boston – the nation’s 14th highest scorer in NCAA Division II at 21.3 points per game – finished the regular season ranked first in the league in free throw percentage (88.9%) and third in the league in scoring, assists (4.8 apg) and steals (1.8 spg).

 

Men’s Defensive Player of the Year

Joe Raga, Limestone

Senior forward Joe Raga has been the driving force behind the Saints 20-win season that has seen them claim a share of the regular season Conference Carolinas Championship. A stalwart defender that usually guards several of the opposition's scoring threats during a game, Raga this season has averaged 9.4 points, a league-leading 9.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 0.8 blocks per game. Of those nine boards a game, 7.4 have come on the defensive glass, ending many an opposing team's offensive opportunity. Along with those accomplishments, he has also become Limestone's all-time leading rebounder this season and is 25th in the nation in rebounding.

 

Men’s Freshman of the Year

Roderick Perkins, Erskine

 

Roderick Perkins was an instrumental part in Erskine’s achieving their first winning season since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in1995. Playing in 26 games this season, he provided the Fleet with a viable third scoring option, averaging 14.1 point per game, tied for second on the team while playing outstanding defense. Seven times Perkins was the Fleet’s leading scorer in a game and, defensively, he led the conference in blocked shots and ranked in the top 5 in steals per game.

 

Men’s Coach of the Year

Brandon Scott, Limestone

 

Head coach Brandon Scott led Limestone to a share of the league’s regular season title and the Saints third 20-win season in the past four years. To this point Limestone has posted a 21-7 overall record and 15-5 mark in Conference Carolinas play and have won ten of their last 11 games entering the tournament finals. His team is also currently ranked 20th in the country in rebound margin (6.7) and 22nd in blocked shots (4.5) while posting one of the top 40 winning percentages in the country.

 

Men’s All-Conference 1^st-Team

Gerald Boston, Barton

Tyshawn Good, Belmont Abbey

Charles Blue, Limestone

Antonio Stabler, Queens

Corey Sorrell, Erskine

 

Men’s All-Conference 2^nd-Team

Eddie Piccinini, King

Jon Hart, Barton

Tyshawn Patterson, North Greenville

Julian Nelson, Coker

Logan Lyle, King

 

Men’s All-Conference 3^rd Team

Mike Gabbard, Erskine

Jason Seymore, King

Joe Raga, Limestone

Darrell Patterson, Mount Olive

Dory Hines, Mount Olive

 

Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletic conference currently made up of 12 teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Coker College, Converse College, Erskine College, King College, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, Mount Olive College, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University, and Queens University of Charlotte.