ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum University senior guard Mia Long was named first-team All-South Atlantic Conference in women's basketball for the 2019-20 season, the conference office announced Thursday.
Long is the first Pioneer to be named first-team All-SAC since Shynese Whitener in 2015-16, and the eighth since Tusculum joined the conference for the 1999-2000 season. She was a second-team All-SAC selection a year ago, and is one of just five players to earn All-Conference honors each of the last two seasons.
Graduate forward Kasey Johnson was an honorable mention selection for the Pioneers, earning the recognition for the third time in her career. Johnson is one of only three players on this year's All-Conference teams to be three-time selections, having been honorable mention All-SAC in both 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Voting for the SAC All-Conference and All-Freshman teams and major awards was conducted by the conference's 12 head coaches.
Long led the Pioneers in scoring at 14.3 points per game, ranking her ninth in the SAC, and averaged 3.9 rebounds per game. She was the SAC statistical champion in steals for the second straight year with 3.54 per game, which ranks ninth in Division II, and she was 11th in the conference in shooting percentage at 45.9 percent.
The senior from Ann Arbor, Michigan scored in double figures in 10 of her last 11 games and 22 times in 28 games this season. On Feb. 22 against Coker, Long became the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points and the first to do so while playing just three seasons.
Long scored a season-high 25 points in an 88-84 double-overtime win at Lenoir-Rhyne on Jan. 29, and had 24 points in an 89-85 victory over UVa-Wise on Dec. 18. Long had six steals in a game seven different times, and finished with two or more steals in 25 of the Pioneers' 28 regular-season games.
Long leads all active Division II players in steals per game at 3.35 per game, and ranks seventh overall among all divisions of the NCAA. Her 275 career steals are the third-most by a Tusculum player and rank her eighth among active NCAA Division II players. Long ranks 10th in program history in scoring average at 12.5 points per game, seventh in assists at 3.6 per game and ninth in total assists with 296.
Johnson ranked third on the team in scoring average at 10.5 points per game, and was second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per contest. The Greensboro, North Carolina native scored in double figures 14 times in 28 games, including a career-best 34 points in the Pioneers' double-overtime win at Lenoir-Rhyne in January. Johnson was third in the SAC in free-throw percentage at 86.2 percent (56-for-65).
Johnson reached the 20-point mark five times during the regular season, and had four double-doubles including back-to-back against Wingate on Jan. 18 (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 22 (11 points, 11 rebounds). On Nov. 30 against Catawba, Johnson became the 17th player in program history, and the first of three this season, to surpass 1,000 career points.
She ranks 14th in career points at Tusculum with 1,217, 10th in career three-pointers with 100, seventh in total rebounds with 645 and eighth in blocked shots with 68. Johnson, who has a career scoring average of 12.3 points per game, is seventh in program history in rebounding average (6.5 per game) and fourth in three-point percentage at .403 (100-for-248).
As a team, Tusculum was the SAC statistical champion in steals with 352. The Pioneers have 10 or more steals in 22 of their 28 regular-season games, and had nine or more steals in 21 of their 22 conference games. Tusculum had a season-high 25 steals against Johnson & Wales on Nov. 22, one of three games with 20 or more steals during the season.
Alexy Mollenhauer of Anderson was named SAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after averaging 20.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, while Braelyn Wykle of Carson-Newman was honored as Freshman of the Year with a scoring average of 17.3 points per game. Jonathon Barbaree, who led Anderson to its second straight SAC regular-season championship, was recognized by his peers as Coach of the Year. Teliyah Jeter of Wingate, who ranks third in Division II in blocked shots with 103, was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Tusculum, which finished in third place in the SAC standings with a 16-6 record, will take a 22-7 overall record into Saturday's SAC Championship semifinal game against Carson-Newman, which tips off at 2:30 p.m. from Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
2019-20 South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Alexy Mollenhauer, Anderson
Kayla Marosites, Carson-Newman
Mia Long, Tusculum
Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman
Madison Baggett, Anderson
Taisha DeShazo, Catawba
Second Team
Teliyah Jeter, Wingate
Erin Houser, Coker
Madeline Hardy, Lenoir-Rhyne
Keli Romas, Newberry
Caitlyn Ross, UVa-Wise
Kelsey McDermott, Newberry
Honorable Mention
Taylor Hair, Anderson
Kasey Johnson, Tusculum
De'Ja Marshall, Mars Hill
Kristian Eanes, Queens
Addison Byrd, Carson-Newman
Lyrik Thorne, Catawba
All-Freshman
Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman
Caitlyn Ross, UVa-Wise
Hannah Clark, Wingate
Nia Vanzant, Catawba
Lyrik Thorne, Catawba
Player of the Year: Alexy Mollenhauer, Anderson
Freshman of the Year: Braelyn Wykle, Carson-Newman
Defensive Player of the Year: Teliyah Jeter, Wingate
Coach of the Year: Jonathon Barbaree, Anderson
