ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference released its all-conference honors Thursday morning as sophomore Mika Wester was tabbed to the top unit and Kailyn Brooks picked up a spot on the second squad.
Wester is a first-team selection in her first season with the Lady Eagles becoming the first C-N player to be on the first group since Zoriah Williams earned a spot in 2011-12. Carson-Newman sees players named to the first and second squad for the first time in six seasons when Mandy Mendenhall was a first-team pick and Williams was tabbed to the second group in 2010-11.
"God has given me so much through basketball," Wester said. "I am so thankful. This is just another thing that He has given me. He has given me a love for the game. I think that is what has driven me in my life and to this point in my career. I love basketball so much and I want to work hard at it every day and be the best that I can be. It's paying off now."
A Newport, Tenn. native, Wester ranks 11th in the country in made field goals with 212 on the year while posting 18.6 points per game, second in the SAC and 28th in the country. The forward is fourth in the league in free-throw percentage at 82 percent while placing seventh in field-goal percentage at 49. With 28 rejections, the transfer is seventh in the league in blocks.
Wester has 26 double-digit scoring efforts while posting six double-doubles during the season. The six double-doubles are the most since Williams tallied 13 during her final year in the Orange and Blue in 2011-12.
The SAC Player of the Week on Jan. 23 scored in double figures in 17 straight games from the second game of the season until Jan. 25 when she had eight points at LMU matching the longest streak by a Lady Eagle over the last 15 years Zoriah Williams during the 2011-12 campaign. She has recorded 12 games with at least 20 points marking the most in a single season by a C-N player over the last 15 years. Andrea Fitzgerald and Monica Ashburn registered nine games with 20 or more points during the 2002-03 season.
Her best game of the season was when she scored 31 points on 14-for-23 shooting at Mars Hill on New Year's Eve 2016 in a 90-52 win to become the first Lady Eagle to score 30 or more points in a game since Brooke Johnson dropped 39 points in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Clayton State on March 12, 2005.
Brooks has produced one the best overall careers for any Lady Eagle in history becoming the 12th player in program history to earn multiple All-SAC honors in her career after being an honorable mention pick in 2015-16. She ranks 12th in school history in points scored with 1,152 and sits in third place on the program's all-time three-pointers list with 198. At Wingate on Feb. 18, the senior made her 73rd three-pointer of the season to break Ashley Tipton's record for most converted triples in a season. Her current mark stands at 75. That number ranks 18th in the nation. With 316 assists, Brooks is eighth on the school's career list.
The 2015-16 honorable mention All-SAC performer has recorded 58 games in double figures with 30 contests with at least three long range jumpers and 53 games with at least three assists. As a senior, the guard leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.13, ranks fourth in assists per game at 3.9 and is eighth in scoring at 14 per game.
The Lady Eagles advanced to the SAC Women's Basketball Championships semifinals with a win over Newberry Wednesday night. C-N plays top-seeded Lincoln Memorial Saturday at noon from Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. The Eagle Sports Network will have the call starting at 11:45 a.m. on Mountain Country 106.3 WPFT-FM and cneagles.com/live.
- CN -
