Thomas, Folley, McDaniel earn all-conference accolades
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Feb. 28, 2023) – The Southern Conference announced its 2022-23 women’s basketball postseason awards on Tuesday afternoon, naming three ETSU players and first year head coach Brenda Mock Brown as award winners this season, as voted by the league head coaches and the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA).
Graduate guard Jiselle Thomas (Norwalk, Ohio) was selected by both the coaches and media as a first-team all-conference selection, following a regular season where she finished with 15.4 points per game and ranked fourth in league scoring with 16.7 PPG. Transferring from Temple to ETSU this past offseason, Thomas scored her 1,000th career point while wearing the Blue & Gold and is the team’s only graduate this season.
Sophomore guard Kendall Folley (Lebanon, Ohio) was voted to the league’s all-defensive team and was a dual selection for the all-conference second team. The two-time SoCon Player of the Week averaged 14.2 PPG in league games to rank among the top 10 scorers, while ranking fourth in field goal percentage (48.2 percent) and seventh in assists (38) in league games. Defensively, Folley had 23 steals in 14 league games to rank among the Top 5 players in swipes, while ranking fourth in overall steals with 39 this season.
True freshman Journee McDaniel (New Bern, N.C.) landed a spot on the media’s all-freshman team, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game to rank second among freshman in the conference behind SoCon Freshman of the Year Raven Thompson. She also averaged 5.1 PPG and ranked second on the team with 16 blocks, playing in 28 games with 12 starts.
On the heels of one of the most storied turnarounds in NCAA Women’s Basketball History, Coach Brenda Mock Brown becomes the first Coach of the Year winner at ETSU since the late Karen Kemp won in 2008 as a member of the ASUN. Kemp was also ETSU’s last winner of the SoCon Coach of the Year award, doing so in the historic 1994-95 season.
In her first season at ETSU, Coach Mock has guided the Bucs to a 22-8 overall record — marking the most regular season wins in school history and the second most total wins behind the 2009-10 team with 23. The Bucs also finished with a 13-3 record in non-conference play — the most non-conference wins in a single season in program history.
Following a 6-22 record last season, ETSU has experienced the largest turnaround in win improvement with 16 more wins than last season ahead of Illinois and UIC with 14.
Mock and the Bucs not only have a shot at school history but are also on the cusp of NCAA basketball history. With 15 games improved currently — measured by the difference in wins and difference in losses and divided by two — the Bucs would rank among the Top 10 turnarounds in D1 women’s basketball all-time. Mock was the last coach to lead a turnaround of this prestige while at UNC Asheville in 2016. No other coach in the NCAA’s Top 10 of all-time most improved teams has led two teams to that point.
With a 9-5 record in conference play, ETSU finished in a two-way for second place in the league standings this season alongside Chattanooga. The Bucs will be the No. 3 seed entering this week’s Southern Conference tournament and will face No. 6 Samford on Thursday, March 2 in the quarterfinal nightcap at 5:45 p.m.
Coaches All-Southern Conference Women's Basketball Teams
Player of the Year
Rachael Rose, So., G, Wofford
Freshman of the Year
Raven Thompson, F, Chattanooga
Defensive Player of the Year
Summah Evans, Jr., F, Mercer
Coach of the Year
Brenda Mock Brown, ETSU
Ann Lashley Inspiration Award Winner
Kyla Allison, Gr., G, Western Carolina
First team
Jiselle Thomas, Gr., ETSU
Amoria Neal-Tysor, Gr., Mercer
Andrea Bailey, Sr., Samford
Yazz Wazeerud-Din, Gr., Chattanooga
Rachael Rose, So., Wofford
Second team
Kendall Folley, So., ETSU
Grace van Rij, Gr., Furman
Raven Thompson, Fr., Chattanooga
Kyla Allison, Gr., Western Carolina
Jackie Carman, 5th, Wofford
All-defensive team
Kendall Folley, So., ETSU
Summah Evans, Jr., Mercer
Khalis Cain, Jr., UNCG
Andrea Bailey, Sr., Samford
Helen Matthews, Jr., Wofford
All-freshman team
Jaelyn Acker, Furman
Enjulina Gonzalez, Mercer
Raven Thompson, Chattanooga
Carly Heidger, Samford
Masyn Marchbanks, Samford
SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) All-Southern Conference Women's Basketball Teams
Player of the Year
Andrea Bailey, Sr., G, Samford
Freshman of the Year
Raven Thompson, F, Chattanooga
Coach of the Year
Jimmy Garrity, Wofford
First team
Jiselle Thomas, Gr., ETSU
Amoria Neal-Tysor, Gr., Mercer
Andrea Bailey, Sr., Samford
Yazz Wazeerud-Din, Gr., Chattanooga
Rachael Rose, So., Wofford
Second team
Kendall Folley, So., ETSU
Grace van Rij, Gr., Furman
Akira Wiggins, Gr., UNCG
Raven Thompson, Fr., Chattanooga
Jackie Carman, 5th, Wofford
Third team
Erin Houpt, G, Mercer
Khalis Cain, UNCG
Sussy Ngulefac, So., Samford
Kyla Allison, Gr., Western Carolina
Lilly Hatton, Sr., Wofford
All-freshman team
Journee McDaniel, ETSU
Jaelyn Acker, Furman
Enjulina Gonzalez, Mercer
Raven Thompson, Chattanooga
Masyn Marchbanks, Samford
For more information on Buccaneer women’s hoops, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s basketball page.
