Big South Announces 2022-2023 Women’s Basketball Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Gardner-Webb senior guard Jhessyka Williams and head coach Alex Simmons have been voted the 2022-23 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 Gardner-Webb forward Alasia Smith as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and Radford guard Ashlyn Traylor as Freshman of the Year, while Campbell guard Brittany Staves was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s Sports Information Directors.
Williams becomes the second Runnin’ Bulldogs to receive Big South Player of the Year honors and the first since 2009-10. A six-time Big South Player of the Week winner, Williams closed the season first in the conference at 18.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and third in steals with 2.0 per contest. She posted a league-high 15 double-doubles, 14th-most in the nation, and was the only player in the conference to register a triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists against Presbyterian College in January. She finished sixth in Division I in free throw attempts (213), 14th in free throws made (146) and 20th overall in points scored (564). Williams scored 20-plus points 13 times, a league-high.
In Player of the Year voting, Williams was a unanimous winner, receiving the maximum of nine first-place votes and 135 total points. She finished ahead of teammate Lauren Bevis (124 points) and High Point’s Skyler Curran (110 points).
Simmons earns her first Coach of the Year honor – and becomes the second Gardner-Webb coach to claim the yearly Big South award, as well as the first since 2009-10. Projected to finish tied for first-place in the annual preseason poll, Simmons led the Runnin’ Bulldogs to the first 18-0 conference season in Big South history – women or men – claiming the outright Big South regular-season title for the first time since 2009-10. At 26-4 overall, GWU’s win total was the most in 12 years, while its current 18-game winning streak marks the longest in program history. In addition, the team’s .867 winning percentage ranks 10th nationally. The Runnin’ Bulldogs finished the regular season ranked first in the conference in scoring offense (76.5), scoring margin (+10.8) and steals per game (9.7), while the team ranked seventh in Division I in turnovers forced per game (21.8) and turnover margin (+6.5).
Simmons received seven first-place votes and 24 points in the voting, ahead of Presbyterian College’s Alaura Sharp (two first-place votes, 14 points).
Smith becomes the first Gardner-Webb player to ever win Defensive Player of the Year honors. The junior from Johnson City, Tenn. closed the regular season ranked second in the entire nation in steals (108) and steals per game (3.6) – both league-highs – while averaging 1.13 blocks and 8.9 rebounds per game, ranked second and third in the conference respectively. Her 108 steals are also second-most all-time in the Big South, and most since 2018-19.
In Defensive Player of the Year voting, Smith received seven first-place votes and 23 total points, ahead of Campbell’s Christabel Ezumah (18 points, one first-place vote) and High Point’s Jordan Edwards (10 points, one first-place vote).
Traylor becomes the first Highlander to earn Freshman of the Year honors since 2004-05 and fourth overall. Setting a new Radford record as a seven-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree, Traylor ranked ninth in the conference in scoring (12.7 points per game), second in steals per game (2.07) and fifth in assists per game (3.3). She led all freshmen in both points per game (12.7) and steals (60), ranked second amongst freshmen in assists (95), and scored in double figures in 20-of-29 games overall while leading her team in scoring on 15 occasions.
Traylor was a unanimous Freshman of the Year winner, receiving the maximum of nine first-place votes and 45 total points. She finished ahead of Presbyterian College’s Tilda Sjökvist and Campbell’s Gianni Boone (28 points).
Staves is a 3.62 student studying Kinesiology Pre-Physical Therapy while pursuing a Masters of Business Administration. Earlier this year, she was named as an Academic All-District selection by College Sports Communicators. This season, Staves has started all 27 games she has appeared in while averaging 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds. She scored in double figures 12 times, including a career-high 22 points in a win at Charleston Southern on Feb. 15.
The entire 2022-23 All-Conference team is as follows:
2022-23 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE
First-Team All-Conference
Jhessyka Williams, Gardner-Webb
Lauren Bevis, Gardner-Webb
Skyler Curran, High Point
Alasia Smith, Gardner-Webb
Christabel Ezumah, Campbell
Second-Team All-Conference
Jenson Edwards, High Point
Bryanna Brady, Presbyterian
Ashlyn Traylor, Radford
Adriana Shipp-Davis, Longwood
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy, Longwood
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Ki’Ari Cain, Gardner-Webb
McKinley Brooks-Sumpter, UNC Asheville
Paige Powell, Winthrop
Brittany Staves, Campbell
Jordan Edwards, High Point
All-Freshman Team
Ashlyn Traylor, Radford
Tilda Sjökvist, Presbyterian
Gianni Boone, Campbell
Aubrie Kierscht, Presbyterian
Catherine Alben, Charleston Southern
All-Academic Team
Brittany Staves, Campbell
Zaire Hicks, Charleston Southern
L'Mia Littlejohn, Gardner-Webb
Callie Scheier, High Point
Brooke Anya, Longwood
Paige Kindseth, Presbyterian
Vanessa Blake, Radford
McKinley Brooks-Sumpter
AC Markham, USC Upstate
Leonor Paisana, Winthrop
Player of the Year
Jhessyka Williams, Gardner-Webb
Freshman of the Year
Ashlyn Traylor, Radford
Defensive Player of the Year
Alasia Smith, Gardner-Webb
Coach of the Year
Alex Simmons, Gardner-Webb
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Brittany Staves, Campbell