Price, Wester reel in first-team all-region honors from D2CCA
March 11, 2018

Price, Wester reel in first-team all-region honors from D2CCA

HIGH POINT, N.C. – For the first time in the school’s Division II era, Carson-Newman has a pair of all-region performers as Haris Price and Mika Wester were named first-team honorees by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Monday morning.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – For the first time in the school's Division II era, Carson-Newman has a pair of all-region performers as Haris Price and Mika Wester were named first-team honorees by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Monday morning.

Brooke Johnson was a second-team All-South Atlantic Region pick in 2005. Shari Buford earned a first-team selection in 2010 as she was a third-team All-American. Zoriah Williams was named a second-team all-region selection and All-American in 2012.

There are now 12 players in the history of the school to earn an all-region, all-district or All-American honor. Wester, a second-team all-region selection as a sophomore, becomes the first Lady Eagle to win multiple honors since Leah Jackson was a three-time NAIA All-District 26 pick three times from 1991-93.

The Newport, Tenn. native became the fourth player in the history of the program to be a first-team All-South Atlantic Conference pick multiple times on the first of March. Jackson is the only four-time first-team All-SAC pick doing so from 1989-90 through 1992-93. Buford (2008-09 and 2009-10) and Kori Lineberger (1997-98 and 1998-99) each did so twice.

In the 2018 SAC Women's Basketball Championships, the forward was named the Tournament's MVP after scoring 61 points and making 25 of 44 shots from the field leading the Lady Eagles to their second tournament crown.

The junior won the Player of the Week award twice and has three in her career. She tied with Price for the league's lead in scoring average with 17.8 points per game while shooting 91 percent from the charity stripe. Her 239 field goals made on the year led the SAC and was 14th in the country. She was third in field-goal percentage making 53 percent of her shots, sixth in blocks with 33 and eighth in assists per game at 3.8.

Overall, Wester has scored in double figures in 31 of the team's 32 games on the year with 11 efforts of at least 20 on the season. She had 22 games with at least three assists and eight with three steals. With 1,139 points, the Newport, Tenn. native is 13th on the school's scoring ledger.

In the Southeast Region Semifinals, Wester tallied a career-high 11 assists while registering her seventh career double-double with 19 points and five boards in a 96-85 win over Lander. It was the first time since Kailyn Brooks on Nov. 30, 2016, 469 days, that a C-N player had a double-double with points and assists.

Price joined Johnson and Leah Jackson in 1992-93 as the only three players in the history of the program to win a player of the year plaudit as the junior was named the SAC's Co-Player of the Year this season.

The Gatlinburg, Tenn. native was named the SAC Player of the Week three times this season, the first time a C-N player has achieved that. The Gatlinburg, Tenn. native ranked second in the conference in scoring average at 17.5 during the regular season. Her 87 steals top the league and are 17th in the country. She was third in the conference with 4.7 assists per game, third in three-pointers made with 62, fourth in free-throw percentage at 83 and fifth in field-goal percentage at 52 percent.

The guard has scored in double figures in 29 outings on the season including 12 with 20 or more. She has 28 games with at least three assists, 16 with three or more steals and 11 with at least a trio of triples.

Against LMU on Jan. 17, 2018, Price scored a career-high 38 points in a 105-90 victory. The 38-point effort is the most for a Carson-Newman player since Brooke Johnson scored 39 points against Clayton State on March 12, 2005, 4,694 days prior. The junior guard went 11-for-18 from the floor and 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. For the third time in her career, she tallied nine assists.

Sports information directors from NCAA Division II Southeast Region schools and conferences selected the two D2CCA All-Southeast Region teams. Price and Wester are both eligible for All-American teams as those squads will be announced on March 19.

First Team
Tatiana Wayne, Columbus State University (Jr. - Lawrenceville, Ga.)
Haris Price, Carson-Newman University (Jr. - Gatlinburg, Tenn.)
Marta Miscenko, Wingate University (Sr. - Riga, Latvia)
Mika Wester, Carson-Newman University (Jr. - Newport, Tenn.)
Felecity Havens, University of Mount Olive (Jr. - Lorain, Ohio)

Second Team
Keidra Smith, Limestone College (Sr. - Mebane, N.C.)
Shaunice Fulmore, Francis Marion University (Jr. - Lake City, S.C.)
Breshay Johnson, Lander University (Sr. - Hopkins, S.C.)
Kianna Wynn, Barton College (Jr. - Knightdale, N.C.)
Chelsea Mitchell, Lander University (Jr. - Laurel, Md.)

Southeast Region Player of the Year
Tatiana Wayne, Columbus State University (Jr. - Lawrenceville, Ga.)

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