Big South Announces 2017-18 Women's Basketball Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Liberty sophomore forward Keyen Green and Radford head coach Mike McGuire have been voted the 2017-18 Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head coaches, it was announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office. The panel voted Liberty guard Ashtyn Baker Freshman of the Year and Radford’s Jayda Worthy as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Presbyterian College senior guard Janie Miles was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s Sports Information Directors.
Green (Philadelphia, Pa.) is the first Lady Flame to be voted Player of the Year since 2008-09 (Megan Frazee) and the ninth overall. She is tops in the Big South with a 60.4 field goal percentage -- the lone player at or above the 60.0 percent threshold, and is Liberty’s leading scorer (13.1 points) and rebounder (6.5) this season. Green ranks inside the league’s Top 10 in both categories -- eighth in points and seventh in rebounding -- and is also third in overall offensive rebounds per game with 2.9. The Big South’s Player of the Week on Feb. 5, Green finished third in league games scoring with 14.9 points and sixth with 6.9 rebounds. Her 63.2 field goal percentage ranked first, while her 77.4 clip from the charity stripe against Big South foes was second-highest. Green, who averaged 3.0 offensive rebounds in conference play, scored a career-high 30 points in Liberty’s Jan. 20 win over Campbell, in which she outscored the Camels in the second-half, 18-15. It was the first 30-point game by a Liberty player since 2012. Green scored in double figures in 15 of 18 Big South games, which included four double-doubles, two 20-point games and one 30-point outing.
In the Player of the Year voting, Green received two first-place votes and 120 total points from the panel, just ahead of Presbyterian College’s Cortney Story (three first-place votes and 118 points) and Radford’s Janayla White (two first-place votes and 110 points).
McGuire earns his second Coach of the Year honor in four seasons after leading the Highlanders to a school-record 15 Big South wins and second consecutive 20-win season at 22-7. He directed his squad to non-conference wins over Appalachian State and VCU, and enters this week’s Big South Championship tournament with the conference’s longest win streak of the season at 10 games. Radford ranks in the top two in nine overall statistical categories, including first in blocked shots (5.2), assists (13.4), assist-to-turnover ratio and defensive rebounds. In Big South games, the Highlanders held the membership to a league-best 33.1 field goal percentage, grabbed the most rebounds (39.4) and was also first in blocks, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. Radford ranked second in six additional categories in league play, including scoring offense and scoring defense.
McGuire received four first-place votes and 18 total points to edge out Liberty’s Carey Green (three first-place votes and 17 points) and UNC Asheville’s Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick (two first-place votes and 12 points).
Baker (Nesbitt, Miss.) is the second-straight Liberty player to be voted Big South Freshman of the Year and the sixth overall. She leads all Big South freshmen in scoring (7.7), assists (3.1) and steals (1.4), and ranks fifth overall in assists, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio, and eighth in steals. Baker was a five-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree in 2017-18, and is Liberty’s leader in assists (94) and steals (41). She averaged 12.8 points during Liberty’s five-game winning streak to conclude the regular-season, and scored 12 of her season-high 20 points during in the fourth quarter of Liberty’s come-from-behind win over Denver on Dec. 19, which included back-to-back three-pointers that put Liberty ahead of good. Baker made 70.0 percent of her field goals in five games this season, including a perfect 7-of-7 against Winthrop on Feb. 20. She received seven first-place votes and 36 total points, ahead of Winthrop’s Anika Riley (one first-place vote and 26 points).
Worthy (Toledo, Ohio) is the first Highlander to be voted Big South Defensive Player of the Year since 2008-09 and is the program’s fourth overall winner since the award’s inception in 2005-06. The vocal leader of Radford’s defense, she draws the defensive assignment of the opposing team’s top player. Worthy has helped the Highlanders rank fourth nationally in scoring defense, 11th nationally in 3-point defense and 12th nationally in field goal defense. She posted multiple steals in a game eight times and had three games with 3-plus blocked shots. Worthy received two first-place votes and 17 total points, just ahead of Presbyterian’s Cortney Storey (one first-place vote and 15 points).
Miles (Clemson, S.C.) is now a back-to-back winner of the Big South’s Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree and is on the national ballot for Academic All-American. She has started all 29 games this season, is averaging 10.0 points plus a team-high 4.6 rebounds, and is second on the squad with 64 assists. The senior carries a 4.00 GPA as a Biology major.
Joining Green on the All-Conference First-Team are Storey, Radford’s Janayla White, UNC Asheville’s Bronaza Fitzgerald and High Point’s Emma Bockrath. The entire 2017-18 All-Conference team is as follows:
2017-18 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE
First-Team All-Conference
Keyen Green, F, Soph., Liberty
Cortney Storey, G, Sr., Presbyterian
Janayla White, F, Sr., Radford
Bronaza Fitzgerald, C, Sr., UNC Asheville
Emma Bockrath, G, Jr., High Point
Second-Team All-Conference
Jayda Worthy, F, Sr., Radford
Khaila Webb, G, Sr., UNC Asheville
Summer Price, G, Sr., Campbell
Alexus Hill, G, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Tierra Huntsman, G, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Autumn Childress, G, Sr., Longwood
Destinee Walker, G, Jr., Radford
KK Barbour, F, Jr., Liberty
MaKala Rouse, G, Sr., Campbell
Kacie Hall, G, Soph., Presbyterian
All-Freshman Team
Ashtyn Baker, G, Fr., Liberty
Anika Riley, G, Fr., Winthrop
Ashlyn Hampton, F, Fr., Campbell
Kyra Davis, F, Fr., Campbell
Tess Santos, F, Fr., Presbyterian
All-Academic Team
Sarah Smith, F, Sr., Campbell
Anna Webster, G, Soph., Charleston Southern
Carley Plentovich, G, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Lindsey Edwards, G/F, Jr., High Point
Molly Reagan, F/C, Jr., Liberty
Kate Spradlin, G, R-Soph., Longwood
Janie Miles, G, Sr., Presbyterian
Jen Falconer, G, R-Soph., Radford
Tiffany Wilson, F, R-Jr., UNC Asheville
Noell Kellers, G, Jr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Keyen Green, F, Soph., Liberty
Freshman of the Year
Ashtyn Baker, F, Liberty
Defensive Player of the Year
Jayda Worthy, F, Sr., Radford
Coach of the Year
Mike McGuire, Radford
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Janie Miles, G, Sr., Presbyterian