Big South Announces 2022-23 Women's Basketball Preseason Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Gardner-Webb junior forward
Alasia Smith (Johnson City, Tenn.) has been voted the 2022-23 Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches, it was announced this morning. Smith is the first player from Gardner-Webb to receive the conference’s top preseason honor.
Smith was a First-Team All-Big South honoree in 2021-22, and was the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2020-21. Last season, she ranked second in the conference in rebounding with 9.2 per game, and was 10th in scoring at 14.5 points per contest. Smith was second in the Big South in field goal percentage at 55.8 percent, and led the league with 2.8 steals per game. She notched the second-most double-doubles in the conference last season with 14, was eighth in free throw shooting (68.2 percent) and tied fifth with 1.2 blocks per game. In Big South action, Smith averaged 16.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 60.4 percent from the field and 2.9 steals. She had two 20-point, 10-rebound efforts, along with 15 games with 10+ rebounds -- including 19 boards vs. Austin Peay. Smith received five first-place votes and 86 points in the voting to earn the top spot on the preseason All-Conference team.
2022-23 Big South Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
First-Team
Alasia Smith, Gardner-Webb, Jr., F, 5-10 (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Skyler Curran, High Point, Gr., G, 6-0 (Clemmons, N.C.)
Jhessyka Williams, Gardner-Webb, Gr., G/F, 5-10 (Augusta, Ga.)
Jenson Edwards, High Point, R-Sr., G, 5-8 (Wilmington, N.C.)
Shy Tuelle, Campbell, Gr., G, 5-10 (Hampton, Tenn.)
Second-Team
Lauren Bevis, Gardner-Webb, Sr., G, 5-5 (High Point, N.C.)
Brittany Staves, Campbell, Sr., F, 6-0 (Raleigh, N.C.)
Jordan Edwards, High Point, Gr., G, 5-7 (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy, Longwood, Sr., G, 5-10 (Seneca, S.C.)
Jordaynia Ivie, UNC Asheville, So., G, 5-9 (St. Louis, Mo.)
Curran scored 17 points vs. Elon in the 2021-22 season opener before suffering a season-ending injury in the game. She was the 2020-21 Big South Player of the Year, and earned 2021 Big South All-Tournament honors in helping the Panthers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. Curran made the third-most three-pointers in the nation her junior season with 93.
Williams collected Second-Team All-Big South accolades last season. She ranked fifth in the conference in scoring (16.1 points per game) and was third in rebounding with 8.2 -- one of just two Big South players to finish in the top five in both categories. A three-time Big South Player of the Week honoree last season, Williams was among the conference leaders in field goal percentage and free throw shooting, while ranking third with 2.2 steals per game.
Edwards led High Point in scoring last season with 11.9, and finished the regular-season ranked second in the conference with 178 defensive rebounds. She shot over 42 percent from the field last season, handed out 83 assists and grabbed 44 steals. Edwards had a team-high four double-doubles in 2021-22, and scored a career-high 24 points against USC Upstate on Feb. 12.
Tuelle was a First-Team All-Conference pick in her junior year of 2020-21 and is coming off a season in which she helped the Camels reach the Big South Championship game for the third time. She averaged 6.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Tuelle surpassed 1,000 career points in 2021-22, and helped Campbell rank ninth in the country in scoring defense.
The Preseason All-Conference Second-Team features the Big South’s top free throw shooter from last season (Bevis – 84.6 percent), one of the league’s top defenders (Staves), the conference’s top returning assist maker (Edwards), an integral part of Longwood’s Big South Championship (LeRoy) and a key contributor to Asheville’s run to the Big South Semifinals (Ivie).