AUSTIN, Texas --- Tusculum University forward Maddie Sutton has been named to the 2020-2021 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Academic All-District 3 first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Sutton advances to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot, with the team being announced later this month. The Academic All-District 3 Team is selected by members of CoSIDA representing colleges and universities in the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and the Peach Belt Conference.
Sutton, a graduate student from Walland, Tennessee, earned her undergraduate degree last May in sport management and is working to complete her graduate degree in sports administration.
She enjoyed one of the finest seasons by a Tusculum women's basketball student-athlete where she was a consensus All-American, garnering first team honors by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) and honorable mention distinction by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) earlier this spring.
Sutton averaged 17.3 points and 14.6 rebounds per game for the Pioneers during the 2020-2021 season, leading TU to its second consecutive South Atlantic Conference Tournament title. The Pioneers picked up their first NCAA Division II Tournament win since 2010 before being eliminated by eventual Southeast Region champion Belmont Abbey in the semifinals. Tusculum finished with a 19-4 overall record and finished runner-up in the SAC with a 15-3 conference record.
Sutton led all Division II players in total rebounds with 335, while her 14.6 rebounding average is second to Lilly Ritz of Wheeling. Sutton led Division II with 20 double-doubles in 23 games. Sutton had a streak of 16 straight double-doubles which was snapped in the region semifinal loss to Belmont Abbey.
Sutton, a first-team All-Conference selection, ranked second in the SAC in both offensive rebounds (4.6) and defensive rebounds (10.0) per game, good for third in Division II in defensive boards and seventh on the offensive glass. Her rebound average of 14.6 per game set both a SAC and Tusculum single-season record. Sutton finished second in the conference and seventh nationally with an average of 38.2 minutes per game, and played at least 34 minutes in 21 out of 23 games with the exception of two games the Pioneers won by more than 40 points.
After having never reached the 20-point mark in her career prior to February, Sutton went on a run of six games of 20 points or more over an eight-game span, which included 32 points at Queens and a career-best 33 at Coker. Sutton had 10 or more rebounds in all but the final game of the season, including 25 against 20th-ranked Carson-Newman which set a school single-game record, tied for the second-most in Division II this season, and tied for third all-time in SAC history.
Sutton earned SAC Championship Most Valuable Player honors after averaging 23.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in three tournament games. She set a SAC Tournament record by going 12-for-12 from the free-throw line in a 59-43 win over Newberry in the conference quarterfinals, and led all players with 27 points and 11 rebounds in a 59-47 win over Lincoln Memorial in the championship game. In five postseason games, Sutton averaged 20.8 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for the Pioneers while playing all but 14 seconds of a possible 200 minutes.
Sutton was prolific at the free throw line for the Pioneers, ranking second in Division II in both total free throws made (127) and attempted (171), for a 74.3 percent accuracy rate that ranked 11th in the SAC. Sutton was tenth in the conference in assists per game (3.4) and ranked 11th in the league with a 1.15-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Sutton graduated from Tusculum in three years and completed her fourth year of eligibility as a graduate student. She ends her Tusculum career with averages of 8.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, ranking her seventh in program history in rebounding average and sixth in total rebounds with 772. Sutton scored 838 points in 103 career games for the Pioneers, shooting 41.8 percent (277-for-663) from the field and 73.8 percent (245-for-332) from the foul line.
The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs.
CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 First Team
Allie Downing, Belmont Abbey
Destiny Johnson, Lees-McRae
Maria Kuhlman, Belmont Abbey
Julianne Sutton, North Georgia
Maddie Sutton, Tusculum
Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman
