Jones named All-OVC first team, Coleman second team, Walker to All-Newcomer
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – With the regular-season chase in the rearview mirror and the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships presented by TicketSmarter ahead, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team claimed three spots on the league’s all-conference teams. Graduate guard/forward Anna Jones was named to the first team, graduate forward Mackenzie Coleman was named to the second team and sophomore transfer forward Anna Walker was named to the All-Newcomer team. The teams were voted on by the league’s coaches and sports information contacts.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – With the regular-season chase in the rearview mirror and the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships presented by TicketSmarter ahead, the Tennessee Tech women's basketball team claimed three spots on the league's all-conference teams.
Graduate guard/forward Anna Jones was named to the first team, graduate forward Mackenzie Coleman was named to the second team and sophomore transfer forward Anna Walker was named to the All-Newcomer team.
The teams were voted on by the league's coaches and sports information contacts.
Jones, a Jackson, Tenn., native, has been on a tear in recent weeks. Since the game at Belmont, Jones has scored double-digit points in every game – a streak of 12 games currently. During that stretch, Jones has averaged 17.3 points and 8.7 rebounds as the Golden Eagles have gone 10-2. She is shooting .564 from the field (75-of-133), 11-of-24 from 3-point range (.458) and 46-for-68 (.676) at the free-throw line, while averaging 33.2 minutes per night. All five of her double-doubles this season – and of the six in her career – have come in the 12 games since January 22.
In conference play alone, she is averaging 15.3 points and 8.1 rebounds, while, for the entire season, she is averaging 13.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. Jones also has 63 assists and 33 steals.
Jones scored her 1,000th career point at Austin Peay and made the jump to the first-team selections from last season's All-Newcomer and second-team roster. She had a season-high 25 points at UT Martin (1/31/22), a career-high 16 rebounds against Southeast Missouri (2/17/22) and tied her career-high of six assists twice against Chattanooga (11/13/21) and Murray State (1/8/22).
Jones ranked ninth in the conference in scoring, third in rebounding, fifth in field goal percentage, 13th in free-throw percentage, 11th in offensive rebounds and fourth in defensive rebounds.
For Coleman, it is her second postseason honor after being named to the All-Newcomer team in 2017-18. The Edmonton, Ky., native averaged 11.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, shooting .511 from the floor (121-of-237), .397 from beyond the arc (27-of-68) and .846 at the charity stripe (55-of-65). Coleman also finished the regular-season campaign with 37 assists, 33 steals and 35 blocks. Coleman currently ranks 15th in all-time scoring at Tech with 1,449 points and third in blocks with 168.
Coleman was the only player on this season's roster to start and play all 28 games – though Jada Guinn yielded her 28th start of the season this past Saturday as part of the Senior Night festivities.
She scored a season-best 24 points at Southeast Missouri (1/13/22), tied her career-high in rebounds with 12 against Florida Gulf Coast (11/26/21) and at Eastern Illinois (2/10/22) and had a season-best four blocks against Eastern Illinois (1/24/22).
Coleman ranked 16th in the conference in scoring, 13th in rebounding, 10th in field goal percentage, third in blocked shots and eighth in defensive rebounds.
It is the first selection for Walker after transferring in from Chattanooga following the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign. Walker finished the regular season averaging 8.4 points and 3.6 rebounds, while shooting .470 (85-of-181), .373 (22-of-59) from beyond the arc and .768 (43-of-56) from the stripe. She also recorded 32 assists, 20 blocks and 10 steals during the campaign.
Walker had a career-high 22 points against Bethel (11/9/21), a career-high 13 rebounds at SIUE (2/12/22), a career-high five assists against UT Martin (2/26/22) and a career-high three blocks twice against Tennessee Wesleyan (12/16/21) and at UT Martin (1/31/22).
Walker ranked ninth in the conference in blocked shots and 13th in offensive rebounds.
The three picks on Tuesday bring the total during Kim Rosamond's tenure at the helm to 11. For the Tennessee Tech program all-time, the total is 112.
The remainder of the All-OVC first team included: Katelyn Young (Murray State), Destinee Wells (Belmont), Karle Pace (Austin Peay), Lariah Washington (Eastern Illinois), Macey Turley (Murray State), Gabby Nikitinaite (SIUE), Yamia Johnson (Austin Peay), Tuti Jones (Belmont) and Madison Bartley (Belmont). The second team included: Paige Pipkin (UT Martin), Jada Claude (Morehead State), Hannah McKay (Murray State) and Alexis Burpo (Murray State). The All-Newcomer Team included: Nikitinaite, Gia Adams (Tennessee State), Claude and Shae Littleford (UT Martin).
Young was named the conference's Player of the Year, Tuti Jones was named the Defensive Player of the Year, Adams the Freshman of the Year and Bart Brooks (Belmont) the OVC Coach of the Year.
All-session and single-session tickets for the OVC Basketball Championships presented by TicketSmarter are on sale now through Ticketmaster. All-session tickets are still available at the Hooper Eblen Center through noon on Wednesday.
