For the first time in school history, the Stetson women's basketball team landed three student-athletes on the Atlantic Sun all-conference first and second teams, the league announced with its annual postseason awards on Tuesday.
Senior guard Victoria McGowan (Inkster, Mich.) earned first-team all-conference honors for the second straight year, while senior Shanasa Sanders (Jacksonville, Fla.) and junior Sasha Sims (Fayetteville, Ga.) were each selected to the all-conference second-team.
A three-time Atlantic Sun Player of the Week, McGowan is averaging 16.1 points and 6.8 rebound per game this season. She ranks third in the league in scoring, assists (4.3), and steals (2.1). The Hatter senior has scored in double figures in 25 of her 28 games, and she is tied for the league-lead with 62 three-point field goals.
McGowan surpassed 20 points seven times, including a career-best 33-point performance in a come-from-behind victory at Kennesaw State on Jan. 2. She posted four double-doubles and the league's only triple-double on Feb. 18 at Lipscomb (19 pts./12 reb./10 ast.). Her .434 three-point field goal pct. ranks second in the A-Sun and seventh in the NCAA.
McGowan joins Michelle Michael and Kristy Brown as the only players in program history to be a two-time, first-team all-conference honoree.
Sanders averaged 13.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game en route to her first all-conference selection. The team's leading scorer in 12 contests this season, Sanders ranks fourth in the league in scoring, 11th in rebounding, and 10th in assists (2.5). She was named A-Sun Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks in early February.
For the season Sanders has started all 29 games and averages a team-high 32.7 minutes per game. She has scored in double figures 20 times, including four 20+ point games. The Hatter senior enters the postseason on a roll, having averaged 17.2 points and 7.2 rebounds over the final 10 games of the regular season.
A second-team all-conference selection for the second straight year, Sims is averaging 11.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. She posted the seventh highest scoring average in the league in A-Sun games, averaging 13.5 ppg and shooting 49.7 percent against conference opponents. In fact, Sims scored 20 or more points six times in conference play, including the last three games of the regular season.
A strong defensive post player, Sims has registered 42 blocks this season. She ranks third among A-Sun players in that category and her 111 career blocks ranks third in Stetson history.
The no. 2 seed in the A-Sun tournament, Stetson (21-8) will face seventh-seeded ETSU (8-17) in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
