The South Atlantic Conference Announces Women's Basketball All-Conference and Major Awards
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Lincoln Memorial's Kamil Collier was voted the 2025-26 South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year as the SAC announced its individual award winners and All-Conference teams this afternoon. Lenoir-Rhyne took home the league's Freshman of the Year honor in Abigail Brown and also had the SAC Coach of the Year in Emry Tsitouris. Rounding out the award winners are Anderson's Ciara Harris, who was named the Newcomer of the Year, and Wingate's Laura Montiel, who earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. All major awards and All-Conference selections were voted on by the league's head coaches.
Collier, a senior from Nashville, Tenn., averaged a double-double with 18.2 points and 11.3 rebounds per game as Lincoln Memorial earned a national ranking and finished second in the conference standings. Collier shot 49 percent from the field and led the conference in rebounding. She also led the league in field goals made and was the second-leading scorer in the SAC. Her 19 double-doubles this season rank third in the nation. Collier becomes the second player in program history to earn league Player of the Year honors, joining Megan Pittman, who won the award in 2017.
Brown, a freshman from Cary, N.C., averaged 15.8 points per game for the Bears and scored in double figures in 25 of her 28 contests as a rookie. Brown converted 82.5 percent of her free-throw attempts and scored 42 points, knocking down seven 3-pointers, in a win over Carson-Newman on January 10. She also grabbed 6.0 rebounds per game and recorded three double-doubles.
Tsitouris earned Coach of the Year honors in her first season at the helm of Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears captured the fifth SAC title in program history, and just the second outright championship, by going 20-2 in league play. LR enters the conference tournament on a 19-game winning streak and has gone 21-1 since starting the season 3-3. During the 19-game winning streak, 15 victories came by double figures.
Harris, a graduate student from Alexandria, Va., earned Newcomer of the Year honors after transferring to Anderson from Winthrop. In 28 games with the Trojans, Harris led the team in scoring at 16.4 points per game while pulling down 5.8 rebounds per contest. She also hit a team-high 45 3-pointers and led the squad with 64 steals. Her season-high performance was a 31-point effort against Emory & Henry, where she added 12 rebounds and five steals.
Montiel, a junior from Granada, Spain, earned Defensive Player of the Year honors after producing a league-high 76 steals. She added 3.7 rebounds per game and anchored a defense that allowed just 61.9 points per game, the third-best mark in the conference.
The First Team All-Conference selections consisted of Collier and Brown, along with Aaliyah El of Lenoir-Rhyne; last year's Player of the Year, Coker's Shawnteanna Tillman; Jennifer Sullivan of Carson-Newman; and Caroline Mullins of UVA Wise.
2025-26 South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Kamil Collier, Lincoln Memorial
Aaliyah El, Lenoir-Rhyne
Shawnteanna Tillman, Coker
Caroline Mullins, UVA Wise
Jennifer Sullivan, Carson-Newman
Abigail Brown, Lenoir-Rhyne
Second Team
Alexa Smiddy, Lincoln Memorial
Ciara Harris, Anderson
Mary Spry, Catawba
Kristynn Knight, Coker
Kyleigh Bacon, Wingate
Rickell Brown, Newberry
Third Team
Lexi Patty, Lincoln Memorial
Mattie Nuckolls, Carson-Newman
Laney Beale, Wingate
Emily Gonzalez, Carson-Newman
Breanna Yarber, Emory & Henry
Elyseia Brown, Lenoir-Rhyne
All-Freshman
Abigail Brown, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ralee Bare, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ashley Hill, Anderson
Chloe Heath, Carson-Newman
Chi'nya Isaac, Wingate
Player of the Year
Kamil Collier, Lincoln Memorial
Newcomer of the Year
Ciara Harris, Anderson
Freshman of the Year
Abigail Brown, Lenoir-Rhyne
Defensive Player of the Year
Laura Montiel, Wingate
Coach of the Year
Emry Tsitouris, Lenoir-Rhyne
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