MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - On the eve of the NCAA Tournament, Anderson University standout senior Alissa Diaz has been named to the 2012-13 Daktronics Division II women's basketball All-Southeast Region first-team, as announced Wednesday.
Diaz, the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, helped lead the Trojans to the league's regular-season title - the first for Anderson since joining the SAC for the 2010-11 campaign, while posting an excellent all-around year for Anderson. The 5-foot-10 guard ranked second in the conference in scoring at 16.8 points per game and was the league's second-best free throw shooter at 85.3 percent, while recording the seventh-highest field goal percentage at 47.1-percent.
The Coral Springs, Fla., native earned SAC Player of the Week accolades three times and scored in double figures in all but two of Anderson's regular-season games, including eight 20+-point performances. She also averaged 2.7 assists per game, good for 12th in the conference and recorded 4.5 rebounds a contest, leading the Trojans to a stellar 23-8 record.
Diaz averaged more than 18 points in three conference tournament games, while shooting 60.6 percent from the field (20-of-33), and earned the event's Most Valuable Player award. The Trojans captured the tournament crown and earned the third seed in the 2013 NCAA Division II Southeast Region Women's Basketball Tournament, which gets underway on Friday with AU squaring off against sixth-seeded Pfeiffer at 1 p.m.
The votes cast for the on the 2012-13 Daktronics Women's
Basketball All-Southeast Region teams All-Region team reflected
incredible balance, as ten student-athletes from 10 different
schools earned All-Southeast Region distinction this season.
Clayton State University's Drameka Griggs was named the Region Most
Outstanding Player. Griggs led her Laker squad to the Peach Belt
Conference (PBC) Regular-Season and Tournament Titles this year, an
undefeated 29-0 mark and No. 1 National Ranking. She averages 19.9
points per game, shooting 54 percent from the floor, 50 percent
from three-point range and 87 from the free-throw line. A complete
player, she also led the PBC in steals with 113.
Joining Griggs on the first team were Diaz, Jaymee Carnes of the
University of North Georgia, Haylee Lepaio of Newberry College and
Nyesha Willie of Barton College.
The second team features Brittany Cox of Pfeiffer University,
Taylor Beverly of the University of Montevallo, USC Aiken's Daniela
Tarallo, Tamara Nesmith of Mount Olive College, Wiliesha Spencer of
Flagler College and Autumn Lau of Coker College
With the first team selection, all five players are automatically eligible for Daktronics Division II All-American honors. The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The team is voted on by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The online nomination and voting processes are powered by Sidearm Sports. Headquartered in Syracuse, N.Y., Sidearm Sports is the official provider of college athletic websites for over 600 sports organizations at all levels of competition. To receive more information on how your institution can partner with Sidearm Sports for a customized website solution, visit www.sidearmsports.com.
2013 Daktronics Division II Women's All-Southeast Region
Team
First Team
Drameka Griggs, Clayton State - Most Outstanding
Player
Alissa Diaz, Anderson University
Jaymee Carnes, North Georgia
Haylee Lepaio, Newberry College
Nyesha Willie, Barton College
Second Team
Brittany Cox, Pfeiffer
Taylor Beverly, Montevallo
Daniela Tarallo, USC Aiken
Tamara Nesmith, Mount Olive
Williesha Spencer, Flagler
Autumn Lau, Coker
