Women's Basketball Sun Belt Conference

A Look Back on the 2019-20 Women's Basketball Season

NEW ORLEANS - There was plenty of women's basketball to be played in the Sun Belt Conference before the season was cut short in early March. Below we take a look at the many highlights from our teams this season.

  • The Troy Trojans claimed the program's first outright Sun Belt Women's Basketball regular season title after posting a new school record 25 wins overall and 16 in league play.
  • The Trojans once again led the league in scoring offense, averaging 80.2 points per game. It was the eighth consecutive season Troy has led the league. Troy also led the league in rebounding average per game, pulling down a new Sun Belt record 55.0 boards per game.
  • Troy's senior class has tallied 87 wins during their time on campus, the most ever by a Trojans senior class.
  • Troy Head Coach Chanda Rigby has amassed 146 wins since taking over the program in 2012-13, 93 of those coming in Sun Belt play. She ranks second among active Sun Belt women's basketball head coaches in that category.
  • Coastal Carolina had its best season in program history as they also posted 25 wins this season. The Chanticleers also went 15-3 in league play earning the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
  • Senior guard D.J. Williams posted the second highest single-game point total in league history by scoring 51 against Troy in a 124-102 win by the Chants. The total broke a 34-year old school record and were the most points scored in a single NCAA Division I game this season.
  • CCU swept the league's women's basketball honors this year with Williams, Naheria Hamilton and head coach Jaida Williams taking home the Player, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year honors, respectively.
  • Williams led the league in scoring for the second consecutive season, averaging 18.2 points per game.
  • UTA posted another good year in the league finishing with a 21-11 overall record and a 14-4 mark in league play, earning the No. 3 seed in the tournament. It was the fourth consecutive season the Mavericks earned a top four seed.
  • The Lady Mavs' 74-67 win over ULM (March 7) marked head coach Krista Gerlich's 120th as UTA head coach, breaking a tie with Donna Capps for the most in program history.
  • UTA senior forward, Marie Benson, was named the league's Newcomer of the Year and was a First Team All-Sun Belt selection. She led UTA in scoring (16.9) and rebounds (7.4) and ranked in the top-15 in the conference in points (2nd), rebounds (8th), FG percentage (4th; .541), steals (10th; 1.6), blocks (13th; 0.6), offensive rebounds (6th; 2.8) and defensive rebounds (11th; 4.7).
  • The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns posted a 12-win improvement in from 2018-19 to 2019-20. The Cajuns finished with a 19-12 record this season and had won the first two games of the Sun Belt tournament before the event was canceled.
  • Little Rock closed out the 2019-20 season in the Sun Belt tournament, a place the team has qualified for every season since 2005.
  • Joe Foley continues to lead all Sun Belt head coaches, active and former, as the nine conference wins in 2019-20 pushed his total to 218 in his historic career.
  • The legendary head coach earned his 800th career victory on Feb. 22 in a 69-58 win over South Alabama.
  • South Alabama had advanced to the Sun Belt semifinals for the second consecutive season before the event was canceled. The Jaguars had won both the first round and quarterfinal games giving USA six wins in its past seven Sun Belt tournament games. The only blemish was in last year's championship game.
  • Shaforia Kines (All-Sun Belt First Team), Antoinette Lewis (All-Sun Belt Second Team) and Savannah Jones (All-Sun Belt Third Team) paced the Jaguars this season. Both Lewis and Jones return for their senior seasons in 2020-21.
  • Under new head coach Matt Daniel, the Arkansas State Red Wolves finished the 2019-20 campaign with a 11-19 overall record and an 8-10 conference record, earning the seventh seed in the tournament. That No. 7 seed was the highest for the Red Wolves since being the top seed in the tournament back in 2016.
  • Appalachian State's Pre Stanley was an All-Sun Belt Third Team performer in 2019-20, her first postseason all-conference honor, as she was named preseason All-Sun Belt the last two seasons. Stanley averaged a career-high 14.3 points, 1.7 steals and shooting 76.9 percent from the charity stripe in addition to her 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.
  • App State assistant coach Cristina Centeno was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 for the 2019-20 season. The Thirty Under 30 program recognizes 30 up-and-coming coaches age 30 and under at all levels of women's basketball. Centeno was one of two assistant coaches from the Sun Belt (Alaina Jordan-Coastal Carolina).
  • Georgia Southern took to the hardwood this season with a new head coach as well in Anita Howard. The Eagles had seven league wins in 2019-20, nearly doubling their previous totals of the past two years combined. The Eagles were fourth overall in rebounding, averaging 40.0 rebounds per game, the highest single-season total for Georgia Southern since the 2006-07 season.
  • Texas State made its seventh appearance in the Sun Belt tournament in 2019-20 and was led by sophomore guard Kennedy Taylor who tallied 169 assists this season to lead the league. The mark was the second-highest single-season total in Bobcat history.
  • Georgia State's Jada Lewis recorded her 1,000th point on Feb. 15 in a 52-43 win over ULM to become the 22nd Panther to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
  • ULM's Gara Beth Self became the first Warhawk to earn any Sun Belt women's basketball specialty award in program history when she was tabbed as the league's Freshman of the Year. After taking on the starting guard role in December, prior to conference play, Self paced the Warhawks with an a 12.8 per game average and minutes played (34.6).