DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Webber International senior Nikki King walked away with several awards as The Sun Conference women’s basketball All-Conference team was announced at the conference tournament breakfast on Friday.
King was a first team All-Conference selection and garnered Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. The Haines City, Fla. senior was tabbed as the league Player of the Week four times in 2009-10 and leads the conference in scoring at 18.8 points per game. In addition, King is ranked among the nation’s top 20 in five categories, including rebounds per game (5th, 12.2), total rebounds (10th, 304), field goal percentage (11th, .559), scoring (14th) and blocks per game (19th, 1.9).
Bob Batson of Ave Maria, was selected as the Coach of the Year. Batson led the Lady Gyrenes to a fourth place finish in the conference race at 8-6 and a 17-13 overall record in their first season of competition in The Sun Conference.
Ave Maria’s Emily Huber was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year. She led the Lady Gyrenes in assists, averaging 3.1 assists per game and was second in scoring at 10. 2 points per game. Huber was also named to the second team and averaged 3.7 boards on the Year.
Newcomer of the Year honors went to Alexandria Vanterpool of St. Thomas. Vanterpool, who was also a first team selection, was the conference Player of the Week on Jan. 18 and is averaging 11.9 points, seven boards and 1.7 steals per game.
Vanterpool’s teammate, Carissa Staiano, was the recipient of the Champion of Character Award. Now in her third season with the Bobcats, Staino is carrying a 3.0 grade point average in Biology. In addition to her contributions on the court as a three-year team captain, Staino has volunteered at a local church where she runs retreats for high school students, helped fundraise for relief efforts in Haiti and collected care packages for US soldiers.
First Team
Cindy Castrillon, STU (14.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.8 spg)
Erika Derks, AMU (10.6 pgg, 4.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 2.2 spg)
Nikki King, WIU (18.8 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.9 bpg )
Ivana Soberal , NU(13.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.1 spg)
Sudanne Stewart, FMU (11.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.6 spg)
Alexandria Vanterpool, STU (11.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 0.5 apg, 1.7 spg)
Taylor Wencis, NU (9.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.1 apg, 2.2 spg)
Second Team
Jessica Cooley, NU (9.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.1 bpg)
Kenyetta Davis, FMU (9.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.3 spg)
Tiffani Green, FMU (11.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 4.5 apg, 2.5 spg)
Emily Huber, AMU (10.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.6 spg)
Nickerline Montina, STU (9.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.7 spg)
Caitlin Noble, NU (10.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.3 spg)
Marquinta Ridgel, EWC (8.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.3 spg)
Coach of the Year
Bob Batson, Ave Maria
Player of the Year
Nikki King, Webber International
Defensive Player of the Year
Nikki King, Webber International
Newcomer of the Year
Alexandria Vanterpool, St. Thomas
Freshman of the Year
Emily Huber, Ave Maria
Champion of Character
Carissa Staino, St. Thomas