Women’s Basketball All-Region Teams Selected; Lenoir-Rhyne’s Clary on First Team
AIKEN, S.C.--With regular season play and conference tournaments completed, the 2004-05 Daktronics Division II Women's Basketball South Atlantic All-Region teams have been released. Four of the 10 players selected will be competing in this week's NCAA Division II Tournament. The South Atlantic Conference placed four representatives, including Lenoir-Rhyne's Crystal Clary on the First Team.
Kiarsha Curtis (Shaw University), Crystal Clary (Lenoir-Rhyne College), Allyson Hardy (Bowie State University), Joy Hairston (Shaw University), and Lauren Goss (Johnson C. Smith University) head up the First-Team. First-Team selections will now go on the national ballot for All-America consideration.
The Second-Team members are: Brooke Johnson (Carson-Newman College), Cassie King (North Carolina Central University), Rebecca Wessinger (Presbyterian College), Veronica Taylor (Wingate University), and Celeste Trahan (Elizabeth City State University).
Clary, a 6-1 senior center from Hampton, Va., is a two-time First-Team All-Region selection. She averaged 16.5 ppg and 10.9 rpg in posting 12 double doubles for Lenoir-Rhyne. She led the conference and ranked 12th in Division II in rebounding.
Clary, a Campbell University transfer, earned first team all-region honors for the second straight year after leading the team in scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounding (10.9 rpg) and steals (2.6 spg) in 2004-05. Clary's rebounding average is first in the South Atlantic Conference and 12th in NCAA Division II this season as well.
Clary was chosen to All-South Atlantic Conference First Team the last two years and was a 2003-04 NCAA Division II First-Team All-American, the first in the program's history.
Clary leaves L-R ranked 11th all-time in school history with 1,055 points after playing just two seasons and is the program's all-time leader in field goal percentage (61.5 percent) and rebounding average (11.6 rpg).
Johnson, from Seymour, TN, was named the SAC Freshman of the Year, Co-Player of the Year and the Tournament MVP this season. She averages 16 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. Johnson holds the school record for blocks in a season with 112 and is among the conference leaders in scoring, rebounds, field goal percentage and blocks.
Johnson helped lead the Carson-Newman Lady Eagles to a 23-7 overall record. The Lady Eagles won the SAC Tournament and will play in the NCAA Regional Tournament against Fayetteville State on Friday, March 11 at 1 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C.
Wessinger, a 5-9 junior forward from Laurens, SC (Laurens HS), started all 28 games for the Blue Hose this season and lea the team to a 7-21 record, including a 4-10 mark in conference play.
She led the team in scoring with 18.6 points per game, free throws made (170), free throws attempted (229), and was second on the team in free throw percentage (.742) and rebounds (5.6). Wessinger also led the SAC in scoring, free throws made, and free throws attempted, while ranking 5th in field goal percentage (.482), 8th in free throw percentage, 13th in offensive rebounds (2.21), and 14th in rebounds.
She broke the school record for single season free throws attempted (229) and finished second in free throws made (170). She also ranks in the following program single-season history statistical categories: 8th S-S field goals made (172), 9th S-S field goal attempted (357), 6th S-S points scored (522), and 5th S-S scoring average.
Taylor, a junior from Columbia, SC, was a First Team All-South Atlantic Conference selection.
2004-05 Daktronics Division II Women's Basketball South Atlantic All-Region
First-Team
Kiarsha Curtis, Shaw University
Crystal Clary, Lenoir-Rhyne College
Allyson Hardy, Bowie State University
Joy Hairston, Shaw University
Lauren Goss, Johnson C. Smith University
Second-Team
Brooke Johnson, Carson-Newman College
Cassie King, North Carolina Central University
Rebecca Wessinger, Presbyterian College
Veronica Taylor, Wingate University
Celeste Trahan, Elizabeth City State University