March 1, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Senior guard Jence Rhoads headlines a trio of Vanderbilt players who received postseason accolades from the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday.
Rhoads was one of eight players selected to the first team All-SEC by the league’s head coaches after averaging 12.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists in conference play this season. The honor is the second in as many years for the Slippery Rock, Pa., native who becomes the eighth player in school history to earn first team All-SEC accolades at least twice.
Also recognized with Rhoads were freshmen Jasmine Lister and Stephanie Holzer. Lister and Holzer were two of eight players named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. In addition to her All-Freshman honor, Holzer was also tabbed as the SEC’s Sixth Woman of the Year.
Lister, a 5-foot-4 guard from Corona, Calif., is one of two Vanderbilt players (Hannah Tuomi) to start every game this season and ranks second only to Rhoads on the team in minutes played (34.2). Lister averaged 11.1 points and 3.3 assists in SEC play. Her assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.1 ranked eighth in the SEC.
Lister ranks fourth in the SEC among freshmen in scoring and third among freshmen in assists. She also ranks second among freshmen in assist-to-turnover ratio, three-pointers made and minutes played.
Holzer is the first Commodore to ever be named Sixth Woman of the Year and to the All-Freshman Team in the same season. A 6-foot-4 native of Newtown Square, Pa., Holzer averaged 12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in SEC play. Holzer’s numbers have come in just 20.1 minutes of play.
Holzer ranks second in the SEC among freshmen in scoring, first in rebounding and blocked shots. Holzer also leads all freshmen with two double-doubles in SEC play. On Feb. 7 Holzer became the first freshman to earn SEC Player of the Week honors since 2005.
Holzer is the third Vanderbilt player to be named Sixth Woman of the Year and first since Jessica Mooney in 2008. Vanderbilt also had two players on the SEC All-Freshman Team last season (Tiffany Clarke and Elan Brown).
Vanderbilt finished the regular season 19-10 overall and 10-6 in the SEC. The Commodores will play at 9 p.m. on Friday in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament against the winner of the Auburn-Mississippi State game.
2011 SEC Coaches’ Awards
First Team All-SEC
Tierney Jenkins, Alabama
Alli Smalley, Auburn
Porsha Phillips, Georgia
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky
LaSondra Barrett, LSU
Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee
Glory Johnson, Tennessee
Jence Rhoads, Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
C’eira Ricketts, Arkansas
Sarah Watkins, Arkansas
Jasmine James, Georgia
A’dia Mathies, Kentucky
Kayla Melson, Ole Miss
Mary Kathryn Govero, Mississippi State
Iesia Walker, South Carolina
Meighan Simmons, Tennessee
All-Freshman Team
Kaneisha Horn, Alabama
Jaterra Bonds, Florida
Khaalidah Miller, Georgia
Bernisha Pinkett, Kentucky
Valencia Mcfarland, Ole Miss
Meighan Simmons, Tennessee
Jasmine Lister, Vanderbilt
Stephanie Holzer, Vanderbilt
All-Defensive Team
Tierney Jenkins, Alabama
Meredith Mitchell, Georgia
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky
A’dia Mathies, Kentucky
Katherine Graham, LSU
Glory Johnson, Tennessee
Coach of the Year
Pat Summitt, Tennessee
Player of the Year
Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee
Freshman of the Year
Meighan Simmons, Tennessee
Defensive Player of the Year
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky
6th Woman of the Year
Stephanie Holzer, Vanderbilt
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Mary Kathryn Govero, Mississippi State
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