Just like the league's coaches, the Southern Conference media voted University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Shanara Hollinquest the women's basketball player of the year for the second straight season, the SoCon announced Tuesday.
Hollinquest joins former Lady Mocs Alex Anderson, Katasha Brown and Damita Bullock as two-time winners of the award.
"I wanted to be in that company very badly when I got up here," Hollinquest said during her team's pre-tournament news conference.
The top-seeded Lady Mocs (21-8, 16-4) will face either No. 8 Western Carolina (7-22, 6-14) or No. 9 UNC Greensboro (9-19, 6-14) on Friday at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. Those teams square off Thursday.
Hollinquest and fellow UTC senior Jenaya Wade-Fray earned first-team All-SoCon honors. Joining them on the first team were the College of Charleston's Tonia Gerty, freshman of the year Ali Ford of Elon and Samford's Emily London.
Appalachian State's Ashlen Dewart, Anna Freeman and Sam Ramirez made the second team with Davidson's Alex Thompson and Samford's Savannah Hill.
Monday, the coaches voted Hollinquest the player of the year and Wade-Fray all-conference. UTC's Kayla Christopher was named to the all-freshman team.
Pickel SBC honoree
Middle Tennessee State senior guard Jackie Pickel from Bradley Central High School was named Sun Belt Conference women's defensive player of the year and made the All-Sun Belt second team. Teammates Alysha Clark and Brandi Brown were first-team choices, and Clark was a runaway choice as the league's player of the year.
Pickel gives MTSU the defensive honor eight years in a row.
The Blue Raiders (22-5) open SBC tournament play Sunday as the No. 2 seed. They have won five of the last six tournament titles.