SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Southern Conference announced today the Athletes of the Month for February. One athlete is chosen from each sport: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, baseball, softball and wrestling.
Men’s Basketball
Davidson’s Stephen Curry averaged 26.5 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in eight games played. Curry shot 46 percent from the field and 46 percent from behind the arc. In February, Curry led the Wildcats to an 8-0 record. In those eight games, Curry had six games over 24 points with 26 points coming against Elon and 30 against UNC Greensboro. Curry scored 41 points in a come from behind victory at UNC Greensboro on February 13.
Women’s Basketball
Chattanooga’s Alex Anderson averaged 17.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in February. Anderson scored in double digits in all eight games she played, shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 74.4 percent from the charity stripe. She recorded double-doubles against UNC Greensboro, College of Charleston and Western Carolina. Anderson had 18 points and 10 rebounds against UNC Greensboro. She had 11 points and 13 rebounds against College of Charleston and 17 points and 10 rebounds against Western Carolina. Anderson scored 39 points against Davidson and that was the most points scored this season in the Southern Conference.
Wrestling
Chattanooga’s Lloyd Rogers went undefeated in the month of February with a 5-0 mark and a 3-0 Southern Conference record. Rogers helped lead the No.18 Mocs to a 4-1 record in February. Rogers defeated Don Dryer of Central Michigan by technical fall 25-9, he got a major decision over Trebor Clavette of Davidson 21-10, he defeated VMI’s Dustin McCabe by technical fall 24-8, had a major decision over Victor Hojilla of UNC Greensboro 15-7 and defeated Virginia Tech’s Eric Decker 5-1. Rogers was No.14 at 184 through the month.
Men’s Tennis
Elon’s Oscar Podlewski went undefeated in the month of February with a 5-0 record. He was 4-0 at No.2 singles and 1-0 at No.1 singles. Podlewski rallied past Old Dominion’s Eldy Igarashi 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Podlweski has straight set wins against Brain Coxton of Winston-Salem State, Ricky Cuellar of Charlotte, Andrew Veeder of Gardner-Webb and Gabriel Delarve of Campbell.
Women’s Tennis
Adriane Hodges, a senior at Wofford has gone 6-1 in February at No.2 singles. She had straight set victories over Jaymee Jones of North Carolina A&T, Mercer’s Priscilla Dias, UNC Asheville’s Louise Bottomley, Emory’s Lorne McManlgle, High Point’s Kelly Tolman and Coastal Carolina’s Tina Petkova. Hodges went 5-2 at No.2 doubles with her teammate Cayley Wetzig.
Baseball
Baseball Pitcher
Elon’s Steven Hensley pitched 12 innings giving up just three runs, seven hits and four bases on balls while striking out 12 batters. His record was 2-0 in February with an earned run average of 1.42. Hensley helped the Phoenix to a 2-0 record to start the season.
Baseball Player
Shane Kirkley of Wofford helped the Terriers open the season 4-0. Kirkley started all four games at third base for the Terriers and had two put outs and seven assists with only one error. Kirkley had 10 hits, seven runs, and eight RBI. Of those 10 hits three were home runs and four were doubles. Kirkley’s batting average is .556 and his slugging percentage leads the team with 1.278.
Softball
Softball Pitcher
UNC Greensboro’s Amber Harrell is one of two pitchers in the Spartans rotation. She recorded a 1.53 earned run average and a 5-4 record in February. Harrell made 11 appearances and threw 10 complete games. She has pitched in 64 innings allowing 20 runs on 42 hits and striking out 78. Four out of her five wins were shut outs with the shut outs coming against Jacksonville, UMBC, UNC Wilmington and Fordham.
Softball Player
Katie Boyd, a freshmen from Appalachian State, started her career with a home run against Southern Mississippi. She had five home runs, 12 runs, 17 hits, five bases on balls and 11 RBI. Boyd’s had a .548 batting average, 1.129 slugging percentage and .622 on base percentage in February. Boyd was successful in all five of her stolen base attempts.
Men’s Golf
Jimmy Lytle of Elon won the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate by nine shots over his nearest competitor. He shot identical rounds of 69 in the first two rounds and followed that up with a 72 in round three to close the tournament. Lytle’s nine-stroke victory led Elon back from a four-shot deficit to claim the tournament title from Furman by one shot. Lytle’s 54-hole score (210) and Elon’s team score (890) were both records for this tournament.
Women’s Golf
Samantha Widmer of Elon won a share of the medalist honors at the Fighting Camel Spring Classic. Widmer shot a 38 on the front nine and a 36 on the back nine to pull into a three-way tie for first with Ortiz de Pinedo and Diaz Cisneros of Campbell. Widmer helped the Phoenix finish second out of 15 teams.