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Martin named SSAC Player of the Year

Clark, Murray named to All-Freshman, Academic Teams

Monique Martin, senior

By Taylor Hereford

Director of Marketing

CLEVELAND, TENN – Senior Monique Martin was voted the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Player of the Year by the conference coaches at the annual awards banquet Tuesday night.

Martin averaged 29.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for the season.  She also averaged 1.7 assists and 3.7 steals.  She broke the record for the most points scored in a game by any BPC player – male or female – Nov. 11, scoring 50 points against Morris College.  She then broke her own record two weeks later, scoring 52 points against Edward Waters College Nov. 27.

Candice Clark, freshman

“Monique has shown all year why she was the number one player in our conference,” said head coach Sheila Simmons.  “All I could do was nominate her for the award.  To have the other coaches in the conference vote her number one is a testament to her playing ability.”

In addition to being voted Player of the Year, Martin was also voted Newcomer of the Year and was named to the All-Conference Team.  This was Martin’s first year in the SSAC.  She originally signed with the University of Georgia but transferred to Middle Tennessee State University.  She then transferred to BPC at the start of the fall semester.

Along with Martin, two other Lady Barons received conference awards.  Freshman Candice Clark was named to the All-Freshman Team while sophomore Tanisha Murray was named to the All-Academic Team.

Tanisha Murray, sophomore

Clark averaged 8.9 points and 5.5 rebounds for the season.  She also averaged 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.  With Martin sidelined following her Jan. 25 foot injury against Lee University, Clark stepped up and provided much needed offensive production, averaging 12.8 points during the final eight regular season games.

“As with Monique, all I could do was nominate Candice to be a member of the All-Freshman Team,” said Simmons.  “Receiving the necessary votes from the conference coaches shows how much of an impact she made as a freshman.”

Simmons is also proud of Murray’s accomplishments not only on the court, but in the classroom.

“Tanisha has a very high GPA and continues to excel in the classroom,” said Simmons.  “She is very deserving of this honor.”

-BPC-