2018-19 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball All-Conference and Major Awards Announced
HIGH POINT, N.C. – University of Mount Olive guard Felecity Havens and Barton College center Shanika Peterkin earned repeat major Conference Carolinas awards, as Havens was tabbed Player of the Year and Peterkin the Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Freshman of the Year went to King University's Trinity Lee, while Mike Bona of Emmanuel College was named Coach of the Year, the Conference announced today.
New to the Conference Carolinas postseason award offering is the Elite 23 Award. The Elite 23 Award is modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumlative GPA at their respective championship site. The inaugural winner for women's basketball is Belmont Abbey College's Allie Downing.
Havens, a senior from Lorain, Ohio, led Conference Carolinas for the second straight season in scoring at 26.1 points per game during the regular season. Havens is the UMO career scoring leader and first athlete in UMO women's basketball history to surpass 2,000 career points (2054), while sitting second in UMO women's basketball records with 934 career rebounds. During the 2018-19 season, Havens has tallied 20 20+ point games, including two 40+ point games, and eight double-doubles.
Peterkin, a sophomore from Virginia Beach, Va., nearly averages a double-double for Barton with 9.5 points and a league-leading 11.4 rebounds per game. Peterkin also led the conference in blocked shots for the second straight year with 3.6 per game, while ranking as Barton's all-time leader in blocked shots with 239. In addition, her 3.6 blocks per game rank No. 6 in NCAA Division II.
Lee, a Knoxville, Tenn., becomes the first Tornado player in program history to garner Freshman of the Year honors. Lee started all 28 games for the Tornado and ranked fourth on the team with an average of 9.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
Bona led Emmanuel to a 15-4 conference record to claim a share of the Conference Carolinas regular season title. Under Bona’s leadership, the Lions rallied back from three straight losses early in conference play to finish off with a 12-1 run. The Lions surprised many with their impressive Conference Carolinas debut after ranking sixth in the preseason poll.
Downing, a sophomore accounting and business management major from New Madison, Ohio, comes to the Women's Basketball Championship with a cumulative 3.958 GPA. Downing has appeared in 29 games and averages 14 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Joing Havens on the first team is Belmont Abbey's Maria Kuhlman, Emmanuel's Lochlain Corliss, Barton College's Kianna Wynn and Limestone College's Schekinah Bimpa.
Women's All-Conference Carolinas First Team
Felecity Havens, Mount Olive
Kianna Wynn, Barton
Maria Kuhlman, Belmont Abbey
Lochlain Corliss, Emmanuel
Schekinah Bimpa, Limestone
Women's All-Conference Carolinas Second Team
Karen Donehew, North Greenville
Markia Stacey, Lees-McRae
Shanika Peterkin, Barton
Allie Downing, Belmont Abbey
Kristen Cupples, King
Women's All-Conference Carolinas Third Team
Taylour Hunter, Limestone
Jada Bacchus, Mount Olive
Megan Davis, Erskine
Hanna Grogan, Emmanuel
Brea Forbes, Lees-McRae
Player of the Year
Felecity Havens, Mount Olive
Defensive Player of the Year
Shanika Peterkin, Barton
Freshman of the Year
Trinity Lee, King
Coach of the Year
Mike Bona, Emmanuel
Women's Basketball Regular Season Co-Champions
Barton College & Emmanuel College
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 11 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, and Southern Wesleyan University.