Women's Basketball All-Conference and Individual Award Winners Announced
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Coker's Shawnteanna Tillman was voted the 2024-25 South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year and her head coach Melissa DeVore was named the league Coach of the Year as announced by the conference office on Monday. Joining the duo from Coker are Carson-Newman's Jennifer Sullivan as the Newcomer of the Year and Anderson's Rose Gravel and Zamiya Passmore who earned the SAC Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year respectively. All major awards and All-Conference selections were voted on by the league's head coaches.
Tillman, a junior from Columbia, S.C., averaged 17.4 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game to go with 2.2 assists per contest. Tillman scored in double figures in 27 of her 28 games this year and had a career-high 30 points in a win over Newberry on Feb. 19. Tillman is the first player from Coker to be named the SAC Player of the Year in women's basketball.
DeVore earned the Coach of the Year award by taking the Cobras to their first regular season championship in program history. Coker clinched the regular season with a week left to play and had never finished higher than 7th in the league standings prior to winning the league this year. Coker improved from 11 league wins in 2023-24 to a 20-4 mark this season and have been nationally ranked for the majority of the season. They moved into the top 10 at No. 9 in the national rankings on Feb. 11, marking the highest ranking in program history.
Sullivan, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn., earned the Newcomer of the Year after coming to Carson-Newman from Tennessee Tech. Sullivan made an instant impact with the Eagles, scoring 14.0 points per game and knocking down 42.1 percent from 3-point range. Sullivan converted 82.4 percent of her free throws and averaged nearly three assists and rebounds per game. She scored a career-high 29 on 11-of-17 shooting in a win over UVA Wise on Jan. 15.
Gravel, a freshman from Ocala, Fla., joins Alexa Mollenhauer and Diamond McDowell as Freshman of the Year winners from Anderson. Gravel averaged 11.6 points per game and shot 55.5 percent from the field in her rookie campaign while averaging 8.1 rebounds per night. Gravel had seven double-doubles on the season, including 13 points and 14 rebounds in her second career game. She scored a season-best 28 points against Mars Hill on Feb. 15.
Passmore, a redshirt senior from Locust Grove, Ga., earns the Defensive Player of the Year award by producing 79 steals on the year which ranked second in the conference. Passmore filled the stat sheet each night, averaging 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists to go along with the steals. Passmore was the Newcomer of the Year in the league last season.
The First Team All-Conference consisted of Tillman, Sullivan and Passmore along with Diamond McDowell of Anderson, Lindsey Taylor of Carson-Newman and Janiya Foskey of Catawba.
2024-25 South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Shawnteanna Tillman, Coker
Diamond McDowell, Anderson
Zamiya Passmore, Anderson
Lindsey Taylor, Carson-Newman
Janiya Foskey, Catawba
Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman
Second Team
Aaliyah El, Mars Hill
Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial
Ni'Kiah Chesterfield, Tusculum
Mya Wasswa, Coker
Sable Burnside, UVA Wise
Kalisha Hill, Limestone
Third Team
Breanna Yarber, Emory & Henry
Laney Beale, Wingate
Tateyoina Harris, Mars Hill
Kamil Collier, Lincoln Memorial
Aniyah Oliver, Wingate
Kamari Thompson, Coker
All-Freshman
Rose Gravel, Anderson
Bailee Goodlett, Catawba
Kyleigh Bacon, Wingate
Caroline Mullins, UVA Wise
Ella Karst, UVA Wise
Player of the Year
Shawnteanna Tillman, Coker
Newcomer of the Year
Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman
Freshman of the Year
Rose Gravel, Anderson
Defensive Player of the Year
Zamiya Passmore, Anderson
Coach of the Year
Melissa DeVore, Coker
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