University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head coach Wes Moore was selected the Southern Conference Coach of the Year by the league coaches and media Wednesday. The SoCon coaches also selected senior Kayla Christopher and juniors Ashlen Dewart and Taylor Hall to the SoCon All-Conference Team while rookie Tatianna Jackson was selected to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.
Moore, in his 15th season with Chattanooga, led the Lady Mocs to their 18th Southern Conference title and the 12th of the last 14 years. UTC concluded the season with a 26-3 overall record and its 13th season with 20 or more wins. Chattanooga posted a 19-1 conference mark and closed out the season on a 16-game win streak. This is Moore’s sixth Coach of the Year nod from his peers.
The Lady Mocs led the Southern Conference with three selections to the Coaches’ All-Conference Team. Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C.) led the Southern Conference with a field goal percentage of 53.7 percent and was fourth in the league in scoring with 15.8 points per game. She recorded 10 games with 20 or more points and had seven double-doubles. This is Dewart’s second selection by the coaches on the all-conference squad and her third straight by the SoCon Media.
Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) became the 25th member of the Lady Mocs 1,000-point club this season and is currently ranked 13th all-time with 1,295 career points. She climbed up the chart for 3-pointers made and is currently ranked second all-time at UTC and third in the history of the Southern Conference. Christopher leads the Southern Conference in assist-turnover ratio and 3-point field goal percentage. This is Christopher’s third selection to the coaches all-conference team and first by the league media.
Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) led the Lady Mocs to an incredible win over then 20th-ranked Tennessee. Hall played 31 minutes and had a game-high 24 points making 9-of-12 from the field including three 3-pointers. She just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and added five assists and a season-high four steals and three blocked shots. She ranks among the league leaders for scoring and rebounding. Hall was an all-conference selection last season by the SoCon coaches.
Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) has proved a valuable asset off the bench scoring in double figures six times and led the Lady Mocs to a home win against Elon. Jackson is fifth on the team in scoring and fourth in rebounding with more than half of her rebounds on the offensive end. She was also selected to the SoCon Media All-Freshman Team.
Dewart and Christopher were selected to the SoCon Media First Team and Tatianna Jackson was named to the SoCon Media All-Freshman Team.
Davidson’s Sophia Aleksandravicius earned her second straight Player of the Year nod as well as Defensive Player of the Year. She led the league in rebounds (9.9), blocked shots (2.8), defensive rebounds (7.2) and finished third in scoring (15.8 ppg). The Pound Ridge, NY native was also named the Preseason Player of the Year.
Furman’s Holli Wilkins, daughter of former Chattanooga standout Gerald Wilkins, was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year. She started 25-of-29 games for the Paladins, including all 20 conference games, and averaged 7.3 points per game in conference play.
Davidson placed two on the All-Conference team in Aleksandravicius and junior Laura Murray. Appalachian State and Elon also placed two each on the All-Conference team: senior Anna Freeman (APP), sophomore Maryah Sydnor (APP), senior Ali Ford (Elon), and senior Kelsey Evans (Elon). Samford senior Jazmine Martin rounded out the All-Conference team.
Wilkins also earned a spot on the All-Freshman team, and was joined by UNCG’s Lucy mason, Chattanooga’s Tatianna Jackson, Western Carolina’s Lindsay Simpson, and Davidson’s Dakota Dukes.
Wofford’s Mariah Masalin, a senior guard from Orange Park, Fla., was named the recipient of the Ann Lashley Inspiration Award. This award honors a student-athlete or coach who has shown outstanding courage or service. It is presented in memory of former Elon women’s basketball associate head coach Ann Lashley, who passed away on November 10, 2005 after a six-month battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Masalin lost her mother, Kim, to cancer on November 19, 2012, but did not miss Wofford’s next game, two days after her mother’s funeral. Masalin has not missed a game or practice since her mother’s death, and is the only Terrier to appear in every game of her career.
The SoCon Media selected Aleksandravicius as the Player of the Year and UNCG’s Lucy Mason was the media pick for Freshman of the Year.
The 2013 Southern Conference Tournament tips off Friday, March 8 at 11:30 a.m. at the Kimmel Arena on the UNCG Asheville campus. The top-seeded Lady Mocs will open play Saturday at Noon at Kimmel against either No. 8 Georgia Southern or No. 9 Western Carolina.
2013 SoCon Women’s Basketball Awards
All-Conference Team
Anna Freeman, Appalachian State
Maryah Sydnor, Appalachian State
Sophia Aleksandravicius, Davidson
Laura Murray, Davidson
Ali Ford, Elon
Kelsey Evans, Elon
Jazmine Martin, Samford
Ashlen Dewart, Chattanooga
Kayla Christopher, Chattanooga
Taylor Hall, Chattanooga
All-Freshmen Team
Dakota Dukes, Davidson
Holli Wilkins, Furman
Lucy Mason, UNCG
Tatianna Jackson, Chattanooga
Lindsay Simpson, Western Carolina
Player of the Year
Sophia Aleksandravicius, Davidson
Defensive Player of the Year
Sophia Aleksandravicius, Davidson
Freshman of the Year
Holli Wilkins, Furman
Coach of the Year
Wes Moore, Chattanooga
Ann Lashley Inspiration Award
Mariah Masalin, Wofford
Media All-Conference Team
First Team
Anna Freeman, Appalachian State
Sophia Aleksandravicius, Davidson
Ali Ford, Elon
Kayla Christopher, Chattanooga
Ashlen Dewart, Chattanooga
Second Team
Maryah Sydnor, Appalachian State
Laura Murray, Davidson
Kelsey Evans, Elon
Jazmine Martin, Samford
Daniella Motley, Wofford
Media All-Freshmen Team
Dakota Dukes, Davidson
Holli Wilkins, Furman
Lucy Mason, UNCG
Tatianna Jackson, Chattanooga
Lindsay Simpson, Western Carolina
Media Player of the Year
Sophia Aleksandravicius, Davidson
Media Freshman of the Year
Lucy Mason, UNCG
Media Coach of the Year
Wes Moore, Chattanooga