Sullivan leads quartet on All-SAC rosters
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Jennifer Sullivan was named first-team All-South Atlantic Conference for the second year in a row, while Emily Gonzalez and Mattie Nuckolls were named to the third team and Chloe Heath earned a spot on the all-freshman team announced by the league on Tuesday afternoon.
VIDEO: Jennifer Sullivan Interview
VIDEO: Emily Gonzalez Interview
VIDEO: Mattie Nuckolls Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Jennifer Sullivan was named first-team All-South Atlantic Conference for the second year in a row, while Emily Gonzalez and Mattie Nuckolls were named to the third team and Chloe Heath earned a spot on the all-freshman team announced by the league on Tuesday afternoon.
Carson-Newman was one of just two teams in the league to have four different players honored and one of just three teams to have three all-conference players. C-N, Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial are the trio of teams with three all-conference nods.
Sullivan repeats on the all-conference first team after leading Carson-Newman in scoring at 17.7 points per game. She led her team in scoring 17 times and posted 14 20-point nights. Her best scoring game of her career came on January 28 in a blowout win over Tusculum. She scored a career-high 33 points on 12 for 17 shooting and made six three-pointers.
The senior guard led the league with her 39.1 three-point percentage, while also drilling a league-best 2.78 per game. Sullivan has drilled 75 three-pointers this season, tied for the fourth-most threes in a single-season in program history.
For her career, she has poured in 999 career points, 906 of which have come in the Orange and Blue. Her 132 career triples are eighth-most in program history.
"It's been really fun," Sullivan said. "It's obviously not over yet. But, I've just really enjoyed getting to play with these girls and I feel like they come in everyday and trust me and have a lot of confidence in me. I think that has helped me tremendously."
Gonzalez's third team honor is her first career All-SAC accolade. Her final season has been a career year. She has posted career-bests in points per game (11.4), rebounds per game (4.4), assists per game (3.6) and steals per game (2.1). After just five double-digit scoring days in her first three seasons, Gonzalez has more than tripled that with 14 this season. Four of those have been 20-point games, headlined by a career-high 22 against Catawba on November 29.
Her ability to thrive in the point guard role has aided C-N tremendously. All season, Gonzalez has produced a positive assist/turnover ratio and has ranked top 50 nationally. Her 101 assists are second-most in the league, only behind teammate Keeleigh Rogers' 107. Gonzalez has led C-N in assists eight times and has 19 games with three or more assists this season.
"This year I've had a lot more opportunities on and off the ball," Gonzalez said. "I really just took that opportunity, especially being my last year, to be the best I could."
Nuckolls was arguably one of the best players in the league on both ends of the floor and one of the most improved. She nearly tripled her scoring from last year, posting a 13.6 points per game average this regular season. The junior forward made 50 percent of her field goals, the fourth best in the league this season. Nuckolls rattled off 23 games in double-figures. She scored a career-high 23 points in a home win over Anderson on December 13th.
"It's just about taking good shots and being there for my team," Nuckolls said. "When they kick it out to me after a drive, just knocking those shots down and making buckets when need be."
On the defensive end, Nuckolls led the league with her 60 blocks, the fourth-most blocks in a single-season in program history. Her 2.14 blocks per game is the third-highest blocks per game mark in a single-season. Nuckolls had 10 games with three or more blocks and had two games with six. Along with the 60 blocks, she recorded 31 steals. Her 91 total blocks and steals were by far the most in the league this season.
"I'm a little undersized for the positions that I'm suppose to play," Nuckolls said. "But I'm still long and athletic so I use that to my advantage. If I get switched on to smaller guards, they have the quickness on me. Even if they get a step, I still have that length to get back. A lot of my blocks have been when I get beat to the rim and I hustle back. My team gets hyped when I get a block and that gives me more confidence and that translates throughout the rest of my game."
Heath is the 15th player in the history of the program to be on the five-player all-freshman team and the fifth in the past decade.
She started 14 of the 26 appearances she made this season, scoring 152 points just under six points per game. Heath made 42 percent of her shots and scored in double figures five times, all in SAC play. The freshman blocked 26 shots, the fifth-most in the league this season.
"I think most of it goes back to my coaches and teammates," Heath said. "They had so much confidence in me, which helped me have confidence in myself. I think that led to a lot of my success."
Carson-Newman is the number four seed in the South Atlantic Conference Basketball Tournament and will battle fifth-seeded UVA Wise on Thursday, March 5th at noon from the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A live camera of the broadcast crew "On Press Row" will also be available on YouTube.
