2016-17 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball All-Conference and Major Awards Announced
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Limestone College guard Jasmine Kearse was voted the 2016-17 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Player of the Year, while Southern Wesleyan University center Tatiana Manuel was named the Conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman of the Year honors went to North Greenville forward Karen Donehew. Rounding out the major awards was King University's Josh Thompson being named the Coach of the Year, the Conference announced today.
For a second straight year, Kearse, a senior from St. Augustine, Fla., has been named the Conference Carolinas Player of the Year after guiding the Saints to a sixth straight conference regular season championship. Taking over as the team’s point guard in her final season, Kearse leads the league and ranks in the top 10 nationally in total assists and assists per game. She broke the team’s single-season assists record, and became Limestone’s career leader in points and assists.
Manuel, a senior from Tampa, Fla., started all 26 games for the Warriors and led the team defensively averaging 9.5 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game, while chipping in 9.2 points per game.
Hailing from Knoxville, Tenn., Donehew becomes the third player to earn the freshman of the year since North Greenville joined the league in 2011. Donehew poured in 450 points in her rookie campaign to lead the Crusaders in scoring (16.4), while also leading the team in rebounds with eight boards per game.
Thompson captures coach of the year recognition for the first time in his six years leading the Tornado. He has guided King to second-place finishes in each of the last three years, including a Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Championship final game appearance in 2015-16. This season King has won 23 games, their second 20-win season in the last three years. The 23 wins is the most since King became an NCAA Division II member and their most since winning 24 contests in 2003-04. The 19 conference wins are the most since joining Conference Carolinas.
University of Mount Olive led the way with two first team all conference selections, with Daria Simmons and Felecity Havens receiving the honors. In addition to Kearse, Barton College's Kianna Wynn and King University's Whitney Mitchell compiled the rest of the first team.
Women's All-Conference Carolinas First Team
Jasmine Kearse, Limestone
Kianna Wynn, Barton
Daria Simmons, Mount Olive
Felecity Havens, Mount Olive
Whitney Mitchell, King
Women's All-Conference Carolinas Second Team
Ashley Espinosa, Erskine
Meg Pritchard, Pfeiffer
Karen Donehew, North Greenville
Kiara Jones, Mount Olive
Keidra Smith, Limestone
Women's All-Conference Carolinas Third Team
Ni'ya Styles, Mount Olive
Jalan Harper, King
Chrystal Ezechukwu, Belmont Abbey
Brianna James, Converse
Jasmine Richardson, Limestone
Player of the Year
Jasmine Kearse, Limestone
Defensive Player of the Year
Tatiana Manuel, Southern Wesleyan
Freshman of the Year
Karen Donehew, North Greenville
Coach of the Year
Josh Thompson, King
Women's Basketball Regular Season Champion
Limestone College
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 12 teams from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Converse College, Emmanuel College, Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, University of Mount Olive, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University, and Southern Wesleyan University. Emmanuel College is currently completing the NCAA DII membership process and will be fully competing in league championships in the near future.