ASC Women's Basketball All-Conference Teams, Awards Announced
(For the complete list of ASC Women's Basketball All-Conference and All-Division awards, visit this link.)
RICHARDSON, Texas – The LeTourneau YellowJackets women's basketball team placed three players on the all American Southwest Conference East Division Freshman team, the conference announced this week following a vote of the league's 15 head coaches.
First-year players Jessica Manas, Megan McGuire and De'Shante Thomas (Whitehouse, Texas/Whitehouse) were honored as three of the division's top freshman.
Thomas was also given All-ASC East honorable mention, while senior guard La'Queda Davis (Houston, Texas/Waltrip) was named the division's Co-Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year.
Concordia University Texas junior forward Shamika Singleton and Louisiana College senior forward Tillisha Givens have been named division players of the year to headline the 2011 ASC Women's Basketball All-Conference and All-Division selections.
Manas led LeTourneau freshman by averaging 6.8 points per contest during the season. She was the team's most consistent 3-point threat, draining 36 percent (21 of 58) of her shots. That percentage jumped to 39 percent in LeTourneau's ASC contests.
Manas scored a season-best 18 points in LeTourneau's 72-63 win over Division I program New Orleans on Dec. 15. Manas was 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the game as the Jackets held off a late UNO rally.
Thomas (Whitehouse, Texas/Whitehouse) had an immediate impact for the Jackets on both ends of the court. She blocked 56 shots during the season, breaking the previous LeTourneau mark of 45 during a single campaign. She also set a single-game LETU record by grabbing 22 rebounds at Louisiana College on Feb. 5.
For the season, Thomas averaged 5.7 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game, the latter of which also ranked 10th in the ASC. She scored a career-high 17 points in LeTourneau's 77-47 win over Sul Ross State in December.
McGuire (Hallsville, Texas/Hallsville) averaged 6.5 points per game for the Jackets during the season, and raised her average to 6.8 points in conference play. She led the Jackets with 42 steals, and scored in double-figures in four of LeTourneau's last six games, including a season-high 15 at Mississippi College.
The 6-foot-0 Singelton of Concordia earned the title of ASC West Division Player of the Year after averaging a division-high 16.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. She also shot 51.8 percent from the field and led the Tornados to six more conference wins than the previous season.
The 5-foot-9 Givens the title of ASC East Division Player of the Year for the third straight season after averaging 16 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. She also shot 52.6 percent from the field en route to leading the Lady Wildcats to the East Division title and a national ranking.
Singleton and Givens were both selected to their respective All-Division first team. Givens was also named to the prestigious five-player ASC All-Conference Team along with University of Texas at Dallas senior forward Tarneisha Scott, Mississippi College senior forward Jalessa Taylor, Hardin-Simmons University senior post Lindsey Newcombe and Howard Payne University junior point guard Brittany Roberson.
