McNeese State?s Ashlyn Baggett Named Southland Conference Women?s Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year
FRISCO, Texas - McNeese State junior Ashlyn Baggett has
been named the Southland Conference Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the
Year, the league office announced Wednesday in conjunction with the release of
the women's basketball all-academic teams.
Baggett led the
Cowgirls to their best season in school history with a 26-7 overall record and led
the Southland with a 15-1 mark against league opponents. Baggett anchored the Cowgirls'
offense en route to their first outright regular-season title and was named the
most valuable player of the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball
Tournament after leading McNeese to its first conference tournament title and
first trip to the NCAA tournament. A native of Iota, La., Baggett is the first
Cowgirl to receive first-team all-conference honors since 1997. She finished
the year ranked second in the league in scoring (16.7), third in 3-point field
goal percentage (.365) and fifth in 3-pointers made (2.2).
A nursing major with
a 3.74 grade-point average, Baggett earned CoSIDA/Capital One Academic
All-District VI second-team honors and was just one of just two Southland
players to score more than 500 points (550) this season. Baggett is the second
McNeese State player to be named the women's basketball student-athlete of the
year joining Kellie Burbridge, who received the honor in 2002.
There were three
automatic selections on the all-academic teams including Baggett, Sam Houston
State junior Britni Martin and Lamar sophomore Kalis Loyd. Each picked up
first-team all-conference honors following the season. The other seven
all-academic honorees were selected by a vote of the league's head coaches,
sports information contacts and academic advisors.
Martin a native of
Conroe, Texas, is a business major with a 3.35 GPA. Loyd, a native of Malmoe,
Sweden, carries a 3.17 GPA in accounting and makes her second consecutive
appearance on the all-academic team. Other first-team selections include
McNeese State junior Caitlyn Baggett and Lamar junior Ang Green. Caitlyn
Baggett, the twin sister of Ashlyn Baggett, was a second-team all-conference
selection and is a nursing major with a 3.65 GPA. Green, a native of Silsbee,
Texas, carries a 3.69 GPA in communication.
Second-team honorees
include Sam Houston State sophomore Sequeena Thomas, Texas State senior Anna
Brzozowski, Lamar junior Monique Whittaker, UTSA senior Alysse Davis and
Central Arkansas sophomore Micah Rice.
Thomas, a
second-team all-conference selection, is a native of Allentown, Pa., and
carries a 3.21 GPA in mass communications. Brzozowski, a native of Harrah,
Okla., is an exercise and sports science major, and boasts the highest GPA on
the all-academic team with a 3.87. Whittaker, the Southland newcomer of the
year, is an education major with a 3.22 GPA. Davis, a native of Corpus Christi,
Texas, carries a 3.32 GPA in marketing, and Rice is a native of Little Rock,
Ark., with a 3.80 GPA in physical therapy.
Lamar led all
schools with three selections, which are the most by a Cardinals team since the
inception of the all-academic teams in the 2001-02 season. McNeese State and
Sam Houston State each had two and Central Arkansas, UTSA and Texas State had
one apiece.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists
of one administrator from each of the 12 member schools, voted for the
student-athlete of the year.
The student-athlete of the year award is presented to the
student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All
nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale and demonstrated
achievement in athletics for at least two years at the nominating institution.
The all-academic teams are voted
on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic advisors from
each Southland Conference university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0
cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating
institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition
to qualify for the all-academic squad.
2010-11 Southland Conference Women's
Basketball All-Academic Teams
|
First Team
|
|
|
Name
|
University
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
GPA
|
Major
|
|
Ashlyn Baggett^,1
|
McNeese State
|
Jr.
|
Iota, La.
|
3.74
|
Nursing
|
|
Britni Martin1
|
Sam Houston State
|
Jr.
|
Conroe, Texas
|
3.35
|
Business
|
|
Kalis Loyd1,2
|
Lamar
|
So.
|
Malmoe, Sweden
|
3.17
|
Accounting
|
|
Caitlyn Baggett
|
McNeese State
|
Jr.
|
Iota, La.
|
3.65
|
Nursing
|
|
Ang Green
|
Lamar
|
Jr.
|
Silsbee, Texas
|
3.69
|
Communication
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team
|
|
|
Name
|
University
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
GPA
|
Major
|
|
Sequeena Thomas
|
Sam Houston State
|
So.
|
Allentown, Pa.
|
3.21
|
Mass Communications
|
|
Anna Brzozowski
|
Texas State
|
Sr.
|
Harrah, Okla.
|
3.87
|
Exercise and Sports Science
|
|
Monique Whittaker
|
Lamar
|
Jr.
|
Livingston, Texas
|
3.22
|
Education
|
|
Alysse Davis
|
UTSA
|
Sr.
|
Corpus Christi, Texas
|
3.32
|
Marketing
|
|
Micah Rice
|
Central Arkansas
|
So.
|
Little Rock, Ark.
|
3.80
|
Physical Therapy
|
^2010
Southland Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year
1Automatic
selection
2Two-time all-academic
selection