Johnson City Times

The Tusculum University women's basketball team has had three players named to the All-South Atlantic Conference team for the 2022-23 season, the SAC announced Thursday.

Forward Jami Tham was a first-team All-SAC selection, with third-team All-SAC honors to guards Mya Belton and Blayre Shultz. Belton was also honored as the SAC Defensive Player of the Year in voting by the league's 13 head coaches.

Together, the group helped the Pioneers to a 20-8 regular-season record and second place in the SAC Mountain Division with an 11-7 record.

Tham, a graduate student from Arlington, Virginia, averaged 17.4 points and 13.4 rebounds per game during the regular season for the Pioneers. She led the conference and ranked third in Division II in rebounding and also led the SAC in field goal percentage at 51.6 percent (192-for-399). Tham also leads Division II and set a SAC single-season record with 25 double-doubles in 28 regular-season games, including a streak of 22 straight to open the season.

Tham was third in the SAC in scoring average and scored in double figures in 27 of the Pioneers' 28 regular-season games, with seven games of 20 points or more. She scored a season-high 31 points against Mars Hill on Dec. 10 and grabbed a season-best 20 rebounds against Emory & Henry on Dec. 14. Tham, a two-time SAC Player of the Week, also led the conference in made free throws (97) and ended the regular season ranked second in Division II in total rebounds with 374.

Tham, who was a two-time first-team All-Conference Carolinas selection the last two years at Barton, is second among active Division II players with 58 double-doubles, second in rebounds with 1,199 and 20th in points with 1,636. Her 13.4 rebounds per game average is the third-highest in a season in SAC history and second in program history behind the 14.6 rebounds per game of Maddie Sutton during the 2020-21 season.

Belton, a graduate student from Blythewood, South Carolina, was third on the Pioneers in scoring at 14.0 points per game and ranked fourth in the conference with 8.6 rebounds per game. Belton led the SAC with 77 made three-pointers and was second in three-pointers per game at 2.75. Belton was fourth in the league in three-point percentage at 34.5 percent, and was 12th in steals per game with 1.71. Belton tied for the SAC lead in blocked shots per game at 2.00, and was second with 56 total blocked shots in 28 games. She made at least one three-pointer in 27 of the Pioneers' 28 games and finished the season with a streak of 25 straight games with at least one three.

Belton is the second Pioneer to be named SAC Defensive Player of the Year in the six-year history of the award, joining Mia Long who took the honor for the 2018-19 season. She had at least one blocked shot and at least one steal in 22 of the Pioneers' 28 regular-season games, and had 11 games where she had at least two blocks and two steals in the same game. Belton posted seven double-doubles during the season, including a season-high 17 rebounds against Newberry on Feb. 18, and had four 20-point games with a season best of 24 at Carson-Newman on Jan. 11.

Belton finished her career with a share of the Tusculum record for blocked shots with 141, tied with Stephany Neptune (2005-09). Belton also finished fourth in program history with 199 career three-pointers. Earlier this season, Belton became the 21st player in program history to score 1,000 career points and is currently 17th in program history with 1,122 points in 128 career games.

Shultz, a senior from Morristown, Tennessee, ranked ninth in the SAC in scoring at 15.2 points per game and was third in the conference with 2.25 steals per game. Shultz, who was seventh in the SAC in steals at 3.5 per contest, ranks 10th in three-pointers made with 52 and led the conference with an average of 37.58 minutes per game (seventh in Division II).

Shultz ended the regular season with 13 straight games in double figures in points and had 23 games in double figures this season, paced by a career-high 28 against Mars Hill on Jan. 7. Shultz, who was SAC Player of the Week in mid-February following back-to-back games of at least 20 points, had a steal in each of the Pioneers' final 22 regular-season games and had 11 games with three steals or more. A transfer from Coastal Carolina who also played two seasons at Walters State, Shultz scored her 1,000th career collegiate point against Southern Wesleyan on Dec. 17.

Tusculum won the SAC statistical championship in five of the 11 team categories: scoring defense (56.0 ppg), field goal defense (35.5 percent), assists per game (17.2), rebounds per game (42.96) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.14-to-1).

Tusculum's 56.0 points per game scoring defense ranks 14th in Division II and includes a 17-0 record when allowing 62 points or less. The Pioneers' 42.96 rebounds per game is the program's highest as a member of Division II. Each of the SAC-leading totals for the Pioneers ranked in the top 25 in Division II statistically.

Lyric Thorne of Catawba was voted SAC Player of the Year by the coaches, with Freshman of the Year honors to Emily Hege of Wingate. Terence McCutcheon of Catawba was named SAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Indians to a 24-4 record and a league-best 16-2 record in conference games.

2022-23 All-South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball
First Team
Quin Byrd, Limestone
Blaikley Crooks, Lenoir-Rhyne
Jami Tham, Tusculum
Lyrik Thorne, Catawba
Bryanna Troutman, Wingate
Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman 

Second Team
Janiya Downs, Catawba
Emily Harman, Lenoir-Rhyne
Emily Hege, Wingate
Saquita Joyner, Lincoln Memorial
Diamond McDowell, Anderson
Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial 

Third Team
Mya Belton, Tusculum
Hannah Clark, Wingate
Reagan McCray, Limestone
Sara McIntosh, Catawba
Blayre Shultz, Tusculum
Nia Vanzant, UVA Wise 

All-Freshman
Emily Hege, Wingate
Tori Rutherford, Carson-Newman
Ashlyn Sheridan, Anderson
Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial
Breanna Yarber, Emory & Henry 

Player of the Year: Lyrik Thorne, Catawba

Freshman of the Year: Emily Hege, Wingate

Defensive Player of the Year: Mya Belton, Tusculum

Coach of the Year: Terence McCutcheon, Catawba

Statistical Champions 

Points Per Game – Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman; 21.0
Three-Pointers Per Game – Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial; 2.81
Rebounds Per Game – Jami Tham, Tusculum; 13.4
Blocked Shots Per Game – Kaitlin Bailey, UVA Wise; 2.00
Field Goal Percentage – Jami Tham, Tusculum; 51.6
Assists Per Game – Caitlin Ross, UVA Wise; 7.6
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio – Megan Landsiedel, Lenoir-Rhyne; 2.50
Steals Per Game – Lyrik Thorne, Catawba; 2.68
Three-Point Field Goal Percentage – Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman; 43.7
Free Throw Percentage – Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman; 93.0
Team Scoring Offense – Carson-Newman; 74.4
Team Steals Per Game – Catawba; 11.9
Team Field Goal Percentage – Wingate; 45.2
Team FG Percentage Defense – Tusculum; 35.5
Team Assists Per Game – Tusculum; 17.2
Team Rebounds Per Game – Tusculum; 42.96
Team Blocks Per Game – UVA Wise; 5.4
Team Three-Point FG Percentage – Wingate; 36.8
Team Scoring Defense – Tusculum; 56.0
Team Free Throw Percentage – Lenoir-Rhyne; 77.6
Team Assist-to-Turnover Ratio – Tusculum; 1.14 

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