BELLEVUE, Wash. – Bennett Rank, a leader in advanced metrics for collegiate athletics, named freshman forward Jecca Simerly (Talbott, Tenn.) as one of six freshman to its Division II women's basketball freshman gem list.

Each of the six players are credited with having breakout seasons that have helped their teams to success.

Simerly leads a 14-3 Lady Eagle group with 11.7 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game and 0.9 blocks per outing. The freshman leads the South Atlantic Conference in field goal percentage at 61.5 percent, a number that is top-10 in the nation.

The forward leads the Lady Eagles with three double-doubles this season as she has scored in double figures in 10 of her last 14 contests including three games where she has eclipsed the 20 point mark.

The SAC honored Simerly has the league's player of the week on December 1, a week after she was honored by Women Play Ball as the Division II Athlete of the Week.

The Lady Eagles are looking to make it back-to-back wins Saturday afternoon when they travel to Newberry for road contest against the Wolves.

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