Mixon named All-SoCon
From staff reports

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The Southern Conference Sports Media Association (SCSMA) has announced its choices for the 2008-09 all-conference women’s basketball team. The group also selected Shanara Hollinquest (Chattanooga) as Player of the Year, Tiara Gause (Elon) as Freshman of the Year and Mike Morris (Samford) as Coach of the Year.

The media association named Brittany Mixon to the second team All-Southern Conference. Mixon averages 12.1 points per game for the Mountaineers (8-21, 7-13).

Hollinquest, the league’s leading scorer at 16.4 points per game, was chosen as Player of the Year after leading the Mocs to their record 10th consecutive SoCon regular season championship. The junior forward also ranks second in the league in rebounding (8.0) and leads the conference in field goal percentage (53.2).

She becomes the fourth Chattanooga standout in as many years to earn Player of the Year honors from the SCSMA, following Katasha Brown (2006) and Alex Anderson (2007, 2008).

Joining Hollinquest on the All-SoCon first team are College of Charleston’s Jade Hughes, Davidson’s Mercedes Robinson, Furman’s Lee Stephens and Samford’s Emily London.

Joining Mixon on the second team are College of Charleston’s Tonia Gerty, Chattanooga’s Erin Ogan, Samford’s Savannah Hill and Western Carolina’s Brooke Johnson.

Elon’s Tiara Gause was chosen as the Freshman of the Year after leading all league freshmen by scoring 10.0 points per contest. She also paced the Phoenix in scoring while starting in 25 contests and scoring in double figures 13 times. Gause recorded a season-high 22 points against Davidson on Feb. 7 and has reached double figures in points in five of the last six outings.

Hughes, who missed all of last season with an injury, was a catalyst for Charleston’s best-ever Division I season (21-7). The guard averaged 11.0 points and 3.5 assists per game while ranking in the top 10 in the league in both free throw and three-point field goal percentage.

Robinson recorded a league-best 15 double-doubles on the season while scoring 14.6 points per contest and pulling down a SoCon-best 9.7 boards per game.

Stephens was the league’s second leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, including a pair of 34-point efforts, while London averaged 14.1 points per game and made 52 consecutive free throws to end the regular season.

Samford head coach Mike Morris was voted as the league’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Bulldogs to a 16-4 SoCon mark and a second place finish in the school’s inaugural SoCon season. Samford, which finished the regular season 21-6 overall, showcased a strong defense and efficient offense throughout the season, ranking first in the league in scoring defense (52.9), field goal percentage defense (36.6) and turnover margin (+4.41).