HobbsDailyReport.com
SUDDRETH
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Former Alexander Central high star Madi Suddreth has been picked among the top 12 women’s basketball players in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) this season.
Suddreth, a junior forward for Lenoir-Rhyne University, was on the preseason All-SAC second team when the conference released a coaches’ vote with a predicted conference finish and two six-player preseason all-league teams on Tuesday.
Head coaches tabbed LRU to finish in seventh place in a battle of 11 teams for the conference title.
Defending tournament champion Wingate was voted the conference favorite with Lincoln Memorial, last year’s regular-season champion, picked to finish second.
Danasia Witherspoon, a Hickory High graduate and a first-team preseason All-SAC pick, will lead Wingate this season.
LRU opens its first season under new head coach Cameron Sealey, a former Bears player, on Friday at 8:30 p.m. at Shuford Gym. The game is part of the SAC/Conference Carolinas Tip-Off Classic.
Suddreth will lead the Bears, 17-12 overall and 13-9 in the SAC last season, after being their leading scorer last year. She averaged 12.6 points per game and 4.7 rebounds and converted 27 of her 3-pointers.
Suddreth blocked 25 shots as a sophomore, leading a defense that ranked eighth in the country among NCAA Division II schools by allowing just 55.5 points per game.
SAC WOMEN BASKETBALL PRESEASON VOTING
TEAM FINISHES
1. Wingate (7) 97
2. Lincoln Memorial (1) 85
3. Anderson, S.C. (3) 84
4. Carson-Newman 74
5. Newberry, S.C. 71
6. Catawba 65
7. LENOIR-RHYNE 40
8. Tusculum 36
9. Queens 30
10. Coker 21
11. Mars Hill 11
PRESEASON ALL-SAC
First team
Danasia Witherspoon, Wingate
Terri Rogers, Catawba
Mika Wester, Carson-Newman
Shea Coker, Lincoln Memorial
Marta Miscenko, Wingate
Meg Essex, Newberry
Second team
Nicola Handreck, Newberry
Alexy Mollenhauer, Anderson
Kasey Johnson, Tusculum
Madison Baggett, Anderson
Madi Suddreth, Lenoir-Rhyne
Serena Brown, Catawba
- Reported by LRU Sports Information