Thursday, February 28, 2002

2001-02 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE MEN'S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS AND AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

HICKORY, NC – The 2001-2002 South Atlantic Conference men’s and women’s basketball All-Conference teams and award recipients were announced during the tournament basketball awards and Hall of Fame induction banquet Thursday night at the Catawba Valley Community College Arena in Hickory, N.C.

Approximately 300 players, coaches, media, support staff and special guests attended this year’s function, which tips off the final rounds of the tournament, to be played Friday and Saturday, March 1-2, in the CVCC Multipurpose Facility. As part of the festivities, six new members were inducted into The South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame.

Mandy Mattox, in her first year as head coach at Mars Hill College, was named Women’s Coach of the Year.

Mars Hill College’s Denise Shelton and Wingate University’s Elizabeth Biedrycki were named Co-Players of the Year.

Shelton, who led the conference in scoring and 3-point field goal percentage, was a four time Player of the Week selection and wins this award for the second time in her career. Biedrycki led the conference in rebounding and field goal percentage and was second in scoring and blocked shots. She led the conference with 20 double-doubles and was named Player of the Week on two occasions.

The women’s Freshman of the Year is Dana Birnie of Presbyterian College. Birnie led all freshman players, averaging 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. She scored 22 points in her collegiate debut against Fayetteville State, then topped that with a season-high 24 points against Newberry.

The SAC  Scholar Athlete Awards went to Kara Caldwell of Carson-Newman College.

Caldwell has a 3.96 GPA, majoring in Sociology. She is a member of the Dean’s List at Carson-Newman, the SAC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and was the Academic Student Athlete of the Year last year at Walters State Community College.

On the court, Caldwell is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game and averages more than 5 rebounds per game. She had a season-high 22 points against conference champion Mars Hill.

Caldwell is a member of Language Partners, a group who works with helping to teach English to foreign students. She is a member of her church choir and has taken mission trips to Peru and will be going to Costa Rica this summer.

The SAC Scholar Athlete Award is presented to one athlete from each of the SAC's 14 sports programs and represents a combination of athletic skill, academic achievement, and participation in community service and leadership roles.

The South Atlantic Conference also added six members to its Hall of Fame.  The new members are: Charlie Coles, a former SAC Football Defensive Player of the Year at Newberry College; Ann Hancock, the second-leading all-time scorer in women’s basketball from Wingate University; Bill Morningstar, a successful golf, basketball and cross country coach from former SAC member Elon University; Tom Parham, also from Elon, who guided the men’s tennis team to eight SAC championships and three national championships; Allen Morris, a 1956 graduate of Presbyterian College who was an outstanding tennis player and later served as Director of Athletics at PC from 1994-2000; and Mars Hill College basketball standout Susie Hopson Shelton, a former SAC Freshman of the Year, Player of the Year and All-American.

ALL-SAC FIRST TEAM

ALL-SAC SECOND TEAM

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

COACH OF THE YEAR: Mandy Mattox, Mars Hill

CO-PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Denise Shelton, Mars Hill

                                       Elizabeth Biedrycki, Wingate

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Dana Birnie, Presbyterian

SAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Kara Caldwell, Carson-Newman

2001-02 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STATISTICAL CHAMPIONS

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

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