Five Gamecocks earn conference honors, trio named All-SEC
For the second consecutive year, South Carolina women’s basketball guard Tyasha Harris has earned All-SEC honors — and she has some teammates for company.
The Associated Press announced its annual conference awards on Tuesday, followed shortly by the coaches’ awards. Harris represented the Gamecocks on both the AP and coaches’ second teams, while junior guard Te’a Cooper and senior forward Alexis Jennings were named to the coaches’ second team.
Forward Victaria Saxton and guard Destanni Henderson were also both named to the SEC All-Freshman team by the conference’s coaches.
Harris has started all but one game for USC this year, averaging 10.7 points, 5.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Her assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.91 is third highest in the conference and 14th nationally.
Cooper averaged 11.9 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game in her first season on the court for the Gamecocks after transferring from Tennessee. Her 31 points against Drake were the most scored by any South Carolina player this season, and she scored 20 or more points four other times.
Jennings recorded 11.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per contest, tallying a team-high four double-doubles while shooting 55.7 percent from the field, fourth in the SEC.
Henderson and Saxton both averaged more than 10 minutes per game for USC and had at least one start to their name. Henderson averaged 5.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game and shot 41.8 percent on 3-pointers, while Saxton tallied 4.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. She led all SEC freshmen in blocks and blocks per game.
Mississippi State led the awards, with star senior center Teaira McCowan earning player of the year honors from both the AP and the coaches. Coach Vic Schaefer was named the AP coach of the year and shared the honor with Kentucky’s Matthew Morris on the coaches’ side after leading the Bulldogs to the regular season title. Senior forward Anriel Howard was also named first-team All-SEC by both the coaches and the AP.
South Carolina opens its bid for a fifth consecutive SEC tournament title on Friday in Greenville as the No. 2 seed, playing the winner of Arkansas-Georgia.
AP AWARDS
Player of the year: Teaira McCowan, Mississippi State
Coach of the year: Vic Schaefer, Mississippi State
Newcomer of the year: Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
All-SEC first team
Chennedy Carter, G, Texas A&M
Teaira McCowan, C, Mississippi State (unanimous)
Sophie Cunningham, G, Missouri
Anriel Howard, F, Mississippi State
Caliya Robinson, F, Georgia
All-SEC second team
Rennia Davis, G/F, Tennessee
Tyasha Harris, G, South Carolina
Chelsea Dungee, G, Arkansas
Rhyne Howard, G/F, Kentucky
Maci Morris, G, Kentucky
COACHES AWARDS
Player of the Year: Teaira McCowan, Mississippi State
Co-Coaches of the Year: Matthew Mitchell, Kentucky; Vic Schaefer, Mississippi State
Freshman of the Year: Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year: Teaira McCowan, Mississippi State
6th Woman of the Year: Cierra Porter, Missouri
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Maci Morris, Kentucky
All-SEC first team
Chennedy Carter, G, Texas A&M
Sophie Cunningham, G, Missouri
Anriel Howard, F, Mississippi State
Rhyne Howard, G/F, Kentucky
Teaira McCowan, C, Miss. State
Ayana Mitchell, F, LSU
Maci Morris, G, Kentucky
Caliya Robinson, F, Georgia
All-SEC second team
Crystal Allen, G, Ole Miss
Te’a Cooper, G, South Carolina
Rennia Davis, G/F, Tennessee
Chelsea Dungee, G, Arkansas
Mariella Fasoula, F, Vanderbilt
Tyasha Harris, G, South Carolina
Alexis Jennings, F, South Carolina
Janiah McKay, G, Auburn
All-Defensive team
Jazzmun Holmes, G, Mississippi State
Teaira McCowan, C, Mississippi State
Janiah McKay, G, Auburn
Taylor Murray, G, Kentucky
Caliya Robinson, F, Georgia
All-Freshman Team
Brinae Alexander, G, Vanderbilt
Robyn Benton, G, Auburn
Blair Green, G, Kentucky
Zaay Green, G, Tennessee
Destanni Henderson, G, South Carolina
Rhyne Howard, G/F, Kentucky
Akira Levy, G, Missouri
Victaria Saxton, F, South Carolina
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 11:05 AM.
