March 20, 2012

ATLANTA, GA – North Georgia’s Jaymee Carnes and Clayton State’s Tanisha Woodard were named All-Americans by the Women’s Basketball Coaches of America on Monday.  USC Aiken’s Kayla Harris and Lander’s Jasmine Judge were also named All-America Honorable Mentions.  This is the first time ever that the Peach Belt Conference has had two WBCA All-Americans, only 10 Division II players in the nation are placed on the team.

Clayton State head coach Dennis Cox was also honored as the southeast region Coach of the Year by the organization.

Carnes becomes the first North Georgia women’s basketball player to be named an All-American by the WBCA.  She has already been recognized this season as the PBC Player of the Year and the Daktronics Southeast Region Player of the Year.

The native of Gainesville, Georgia, came to North Georgia from Division I member Wake Forest University. She led the nation in scoring averaging 25.0 points per game. She finished with 624 points scored, which is the 10th highest scoring total in league history. Carnes scored 30-plus points three times and had a career-high 40 points against Brenau. She finished second in the league and 15th in the nation in rebounds per game with 11.2 and recorded 20 double-doubles, which led all of NCAA Division II. She also led the league and was ranked eighth nationally in blocks.

Carnes is just the second player in PBC history to lead the nation in scoring, joining Kennesaw State’s Joanna Cuprys who averaged 26.0 points per game in 1996-97.

Woodard becomes the first Clayton State Laker to be named a WBCA All-American.  Teshymia Tillman was named honorable mention last season as was Catreia Shaw in 2003.

A 5-foot-10 senior wing from Rome, Ga., Woodard was selected both first team All-Peach Belt Conference and Peach Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season, in addition to Division II All-Southeast Region honors as well. She leads the PBC in both steals and assists, and is ranked fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio and fifth in blocked shots.

For the season, Woodard averaged 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds a game, while recording 175 assists and 111 steals. In addition, she set the Peach Belt Conference career record for steals with 425 and recorded only the third triple-double in the history of Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball. Woodard also became the seventh player in the history of Laker women’s basketball to eclipse 1,000 career points.

Kayla Harris concluded her second year in a Pacer uniform averaging 15.8 points per game. Harris averaged 15.5 points per game in conference action this season. Overall, she averaged 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game in 2011-12. She scored in double figures 25 times and posted 11 20-plus point games. She is already ninth in school history in total points with 885.

Jasmine Judge is currently with Lander in San Antonio, Texas, for the team’s first-ever Elite Eight.  A senior from Augusta, Ga., Judge set the PBC career record for made three-pointers in a career this year.  Heading into the Elite Eight she has made 398 in her career, second-most in NCAA Division II history.  She is also third in the league in three-point percentage and 10 in the PBC in scoring with 14.8 ppg.

Coming off that national championship season, Cox kept the Laker women playing at a high level this year. Clayton State finished 29-4 overall and won its fifth Peach Belt Conference regular season championship in the last eight seasons. In addition, the Lakers advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship game and to the second round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

Cox was honored as Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year for the third time during this tenure at Clayton State. In addition, he also accomplished two tremendous coaching milestones this season. Clayton State’s 85-47 victory over Augusta State on Jan. 14 was Cox’s 200^th victory at Clayton State, and the Lakers’ 78-44 victory over Montevallo on Feb. 22 was the 500^th of his collegiate coaching career.

The WBCA 10-member team was selected by a vote of the selection committee. The committee is composed of one representative from each of the eight geographical regions and a chairperson.

Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II All-America Team

Name	Institution	Year	Pos.	Height
Ashley Arlen	Wayne State College	Sr.	F	6-2
Lauren Battista	Bentley University	So.	F	6-0
Kiara Brown	Edinboro University	Jr.	G	5-7
Chelsea Carlisle	University of California-San Diego	Sr.	G	5-7
Jaymee Carnes	North Georgia College and State University	So.	F	6-1
Kari Daugherty	Ashland University	Jr.	F	6-1
Hanna Johansson	University of Alaska-Anchorage	Sr.	C	6-2
Veronica Walker	Delta State University	Sr.	F	6-2
Ebonie Williams	Washburn University	Sr.	G	5-8
Tanisha Woodard	Clayton State University	Sr.	G	5-10

All-America Team Honorable Mentions

Name	Institution	Year	Pos.	Height
Samantha Blazetic	Edinboro University	Jr.	C	6-3
Lydia Bridenbaugh	West Virginia Wesleyan	Sr.	G	5-10
Nicole Caddell	University of Central Missouri	Sr.	F	5-11
Jasmine Cervantes	Metropolitan State College of Denver	Sr.	G	5-8
Sarah DeShone	Ferris State University	So.	G	5-7
Sabelle Diata	Cameron University	Sr.	F	6-1
Alex Feeney	Augustana College	Jr.	F	6-0
Brittany Ferguson	Valdosta State University	Sr.	F	5-10
Megan Ford	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	Sr.	F/C	6-1
Briauna Hagins	Florida Institute of Technology	Sr.	F	5-11
Jasmine Hammon	University of Alabama-Huntsville	So.	G	5-9
Kayla Harris	University of South Carolina Aiken	So.	F	5-11
Dana Hicks	Catawba College	Sr.	C	5-9
Haley Holmstead	University of Alaska-Anchorage	Jr.	G	5-7
Samantha Hoyt	Michigan Technological University	Jr.	G	5-4
Lizzy Jeronimus	Pittsburg State University	Fr.	G	5-11
Angie Jetvig	Minnesota State University-Moorhead	Sr.	F	6-2
Ashley Jones	Rollins College	So.	G	5-11
Jasmine Judge	Lander University	Sr.	G	5-5
Bobbi Knudsen	Montana State University-Billings	So.	G	5-8
Jessica Koch	Missouri Western State	Sr.	F	5-10
Michelle McDonald	Winona State University	Sr.	F	6-0
Kelly Meredith	Assumption College	Sr.	F	5-10
Casse Mogan	Northern Kentucky University	Sr.	G	5-10
Sarah Pastorek	Indiana University of Pennsylvania	Jr.	F	5-11
Jadee Rooney	University of Wisconsin-Parkside	Sr.	G	5-9
Brittany Shields	Pace University	Jr.	F	5-10
Kaitlin Snyder	Fairmont State University	Jr.	G	5-7
Jewel White	Franklin Pierce University	Sr.	C	6-0
Christine Wooding	Philadelphia University	Sr.	C	6-0