Mississippi State, Kentucky highlight SEC postseason honors
The SEC unveils its postseason awards
The magic of March is so close we can almost taste it. The Southeastern Conference announced its postseason awards, reminding us all that it won’t be long until the country’s best will be on full display during the most important time of the year.
Earning First Team All-SEC honors are Caliya Robinson (Georgia), Rhyne Howard (Kentucky), Maci Morris (Kentucky), Ayana Mitchell (LSU), Anriel Howard (Mississippi State), Teaira McCowan (Mississippi State), Sophie Cunningham (Missouri) and Chennedy Carter (Texas A&M). McCowan was also named SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer was named Co-Coach of the Year.
Even though the Bulldogs finished first in the conference standings at 15-1, 27-2 overall, with two First-Team selections, two All-Defensive Team (McCowan and Jazzmun Holmes) selections and three major award winners, there is a lot of Kentucky on the ballot as well.
In addition to two first-team honorees, two Wildcats also landed on the All-Freshman Team (Blair Green and Howard), one on the All-Defensive Team (Taylor Murray) one Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Morris and head coach Matthew Mitchell shares Co-Coach of the Year honors with Schaefer.
More from NCAA
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, April 6: Stanford defeats Arizona in a tightly contested matchup to win the national title
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 30: UConn and Baylor deliver a classic battle of storied programs
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 26: Louisville and Texas A&M survive and advance
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 23: Highlights from the first round of the NCAA Tournament
- Your Day in Women’s Basketball, March 16: Tournament bracket released
The difference between Kentucky and Mississippi State is that Kentucky has two freshmen coming back, while the Bulldogs graduate McCowan, Howard and Holmes. However, had Chloe Bibby not gotten hurt for the Bulldogs, she definitely would have been honored in some capacity.
Kentucky ended the regular season 11-5 in SEC contests and 24-6 overall, which is the second-highest win total in the SEC behind Mississippi State’s 27. The Bulldogs took down the Wildcats in January 86-71 despite standout performances from Morris and Rhyne who tallied 20 and 15 points, respectively. Mississippi State had four players in double figures—two with double-doubles (points and rebounds)—in Howard and McCowan.
Both squads will surely make some more noise in March.
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