Oglethorpe University Women's Basketball players take home Southern Athletic Association postseason awards

The Oglethorpe women's basketball team saw a windfall of postseason honors following their successful Spring 2020 season, earning the SAA championship.

Sophomore guard Nikki Reed earned SAA Defensive Player of the Year and All-SAA second-team honors, freshman guard Amy Vazquez nabbed the SAA Newcomer of the Year accolade, and Coach Alex Richey secured his second SAA Coach of the Year award. Additionally, junior center Savannah LeGate doubled up on her SAA Tournament MVP honor by earning a spot on the All-SAA first team, while junior guard Taylor Smith joined Reed on the All-SAA second team, and junior center Sydni Donovan grabbed All-SAA honorable mention.

Reed earned her first career conference postseason award, as well as her first career All-SAA honor. She served as a stalwart on the defensive end all season for the Stormy Petrels, making 57 steals to place her third in the conference. She's averaging two steals per game out of the point guard position. In addition, she's fourth in the SAA in free throw percentage at 76.4 percent and third in made free throws with 84.

Vazquez enjoyed an outstanding rookie campaign for the Petrels, joining teammate LeGate as players from the 2019-20 squad to have earned the conference's award for top newcomer. She has compiled an outstanding rookie season, recording an impressive 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio while averaging 1.5 assists per game. She's also shooting 79.3 percent from the charity stripe and averaging 6.8 points per game.

Richey garnered his second SAA Coach of the Year accolade in the past three seasons after having directed his team to both the SAA regular season and tournament titles for the second time. His team sits at 27-1 on the season, putting them at No. 8 in the newest coaches poll and No. 13 in D3hoops.com's late February poll. Their 84-67 victory over Rhodes College tied the program record for most wins in a season, equaling the marks of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 squads. It also secured a clean sweep of SAA regular season and tournament play for the first time in conference history. He passed 100 wins for his career with the team's 75-72 win over Birmingham-Southern College on January 19.

LeGate earned her third career All-SAA accolade and her second career first-team honor. She saved her best weekend of the year for the SAA Tournament, where she earned MVP honors with a 24-point, 12-rebound performance in the championship game and a 24-point, 16-rebound effort against Millsaps College in the semifinals. She currently leads the league in offensive rebounding by 1.7 rebounds per game, averaging 4.8 for the season to place herself 16th in the nation. She leads the league in overall rebounding, as well, averaging 9.2 per contest, grabbing 258 total boards. LeGate is first in the league in double-doubles (12), second in shooting percentage among NCAA qualifiers (48.2), third in free throw attempts (121) and fifth in field goals made (145).

Smith proved to be one of the league's breakout stars prior to her injury in late February. Still sitting second in the league in offensive rebounding (3.1) and sixth in shooting percentage among NCAA qualifiers (42.9) despite not playing in the last three games, Smith also sits fifth in the league in overall rebounding (7.4). She averaged 13.6 points per contest in her first season as a Petrel.

Donovan also transferred into the team for the 2019-20 season and made an immediate impact. She's currently third in the conference in blocks per game (1.89) and second in total blocks (53). This came despite averaging just 15.9 minutes per game. She also shot 52.9 percent from the field for the season.

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