FRISCO, Texas – Lamar’s Akasha Davis has been named the 2023-24 Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, as the all-conference teams and superlative award winners were announced by the conference office on Saturday.

Davis is the fourth Cardinal to win Southland Player of the Year honors, following Shawnta Vanzant (‘01), Jenna Plumley (‘10), and Chastadie Barrs (‘19). She was also named to the All-Defensive Team.

Davis led the SLC in both scoring, with 14.9 points per game, and rebounding, averaging 10.7 rebounds per game. Davis’ presence on the boards led to her having 290 across 27 games, which is 70 more total rebounds than any other player in the conference. Furthermore, she snagged 130 offensive board, which is 63 more than the next closest player was able to achieve. This ranks her 6th in the nation, averaging 4.8 offensive rebounds per game. Davis has 17 double-doubles this season, which is the 14th most in the entire country.

Lamar head coach Aqua Franklin won Coach of the Year honors after leading the Cardinals to their first SLC regular season title since 2019. Franklin led Lamar to a 23-5 overall record, going 17-1 in Southland Conference play, and winning the Regular Season Conference title. She is just the second Cardinal head coach to win this award, following Robin Harmony in 2018.

Southeastern’s Jalencia Pierre was named Defensive Player of the Year, Texas A&M-Commerce’s Jordyn Newsome earned Newcomer of the Year recognition, and Nicholls’ Britiya Curtis garnered the Freshman of the Year title.

Joining Davis on the All-SLC first team is teammate Sabria Dean, who earned her first all-conference recognition. The other first-teamers are all repeat all-conference selections, with Hailey Giaratano of Southeastern (4th All-SLC selection), Alecia Westbrook of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3rd), and Nina De Leon Negron of UIW (2nd). Westbrook becomes just the 9th player in SLC history to be named to the first team on three occasions, and the first Islander to ever achieve this feat.

The All-SLC second team is made up of DeArica Pryor of New Orleans, Lexi Alexander of Nicholls, Mia Deck of Texas A&M-Commerce, Mireia Aguado of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Aliyah Collins of UIW.

The All-Defensive Team is made up of Pierre, Davis, Westbrook, Paige Allen of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Alexis Calderon of New Orleans.

The Southland Conference women’s basketball all-conference teams and superlative awards are nominated for and voted upon by the league’s head coaches and SIDs.

The Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by Explore Louisiana begins this Monday, March 11th in Lake Charles, La. First round, second round, and semi-final games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The Championship which will be broadcast live on ESPNU, at 4pm central, on Thursday March 14th.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Akasha Davis, Lamar
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jalencia Pierre, Southeastern
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Jordyn Newsome, Texas A&M-Commerce
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Britiya Curtis, Nicholls
COACH OF THE YEAR: Aqua Franklin, Lamar

FIRST TEAM

Akasha Davis2	Lamar	Jr.	C/F	Wylie, Texas
Alecia Westbrook3	A&M-Corpus Christi	Gr.	F	Kansas City, Missouri
Hailey Giaratano4	Southeastern	Sr.	G	Ponchatoula, Louisiana
Sabria Dean	Lamar	Sr.	G	Mineola, Texas
Nina De Leon Negron2	UIW	Sr.	G	San Juan, Puerto Rico

SECOND TEAM

DeArica Pryor2	New Orleans	Gr.	G	Urbandale, Iowa
Lexi Alexander	Nicholls	So.	F	Round Rock, Texas
Mia Deck	A&M-Commerce	Sr.	G	Frisco, Texas
Mireia Aguado	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	G	Barcelona, Spain
Aliyah Collins	UIW	So.	G	College Station, Texas

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Jalencia Pierre	Southeastern	So.	G	Springfield, Louisiana
Alecia Westbrook	A&M-Corpus Christi	Gr.	F	Kansas City, Missouri
Alexis Calderon	New Orleans	Jr.	G	Jacksonville, Texas
Akasha Davis	Lamar	Jr.	C/F	Wylie, Texas
Paige Allen	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	G	Kansas City, Missouri